We Brothers
by Shiki105
Summary: Series of hopefully sequential one-shots about Dino and his life with his troublesome little charges, Kyouya and Tsuna. NO YAOI!
1. Chapter 1

This was supposed to be for Hibari's birthday, but I was being lazy and couldn't come up with anything in time -_- my humblest apologies, mister demon...I mean, Hibari-san. One word for you all which should pretty much say everything that needs to be said on the story: **_CRACK_** : D

* * *

People stared as the black-haired boy stepped off the curb and crossed the road. He didn't look to see if cars were coming. Traffic came to a halt as drivers sharply braked to avoid hitting him. More than a few cars crashed. Horns sounded, accompanied by loud cursing from various drivers. The black-haired boy merely gave the nearest driver a cold stare before he got to the other side and continued on as if all was well.

From the pavement across the road, a blond-haired man was hyperventilating. "Kyouya…wha…! He's okay!" His breaths came in short gasps and it was a while before he calmed down. His hold was tight on the hand of a small brown-headed boy. Big brown eyes stared up at the man, slightly pained because his hand felt like it was being crushed. "D-Dino-Nii?" he stammered. "My hand…"

Having calmed down a little, Dino looked down. He immediately let go. "I'm sorry, Tsuna! You okay?"

The child nodded and started forward. He went close to the curb, intending to cross. Dino yanked him back by the collar. "What're you doing?" he screeched. "You're to hold my hand when we cross the road!"

Defiant eyes stared up at him. "That's not fair! Kyou-Nii crossed by himself!" He jabbed an angry figure at the other side of the noisy road, where the crowd had already swallowed the figure of the black-haired boy.

"Your Kyou-Nii is a retard! Don't copy him!" Dino snapped. He regretted saying that the moment Tsuna's eyes widened in wonder. "Retard…" he mumbled. He grinned a toothy grin. "Kyou-Nii's a retard!"

Dino groaned as he took hold of the boy's hand and, taking advantage of the still cursing drivers and their halted vehicles, he crossed the road. "Don't say that."

"But Dino-Nii said it!" Tsuna harrumphed.

"If Dino-Nii jumped off the cliff, would you do it too?" Dino searched the crowd as they weaved through the throng. He couldn't see Kyouya anywhere! That child was so troublesome!

He stopped when he felt a tug on his hand. Tsuna wasn't moving. He looked at the child. Tsuna was looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. Ignoring the wave of people around them, he knelt before the child, his eyes suddenly filled with concern. "What's up?"

Tsuna started to sob and then launched himself at his guardian. "Dino-Nii wants to jump off a cliff! I won't ever say it again! I promise!"

Various people stared down at the two as they passed, more than a little bewildered by the child's declaration.

Well, that was one problem sorted for Dino. He grinned and picked the child up, schoolbags and all. "All right, but you have to keep your promise, kay?" Who knew what Kyouya would do if he heard himself being addressed as such by the younger boy.

Tsuna pulled back, wiping at his eye as he did. He nodded. "Okay."

The man smiled. "Atta boy. Now let's go find that Kyouya."

They found him a while later, standing in front of the door of their little house. Dino nearly collapsed with relief. He'd been fighting back panic all the way home!

He towered over the child. "Kyouya Hibari, how many times do I have to tell you not to go off on your own? What am I do to with you?"

Kyouya was nonchalant. "Kill yourself so I can be free of this place."

Dino ran a hand through his hair, looking tired. "Whatever."

Tsuna glared at the black-haired boy, partially hidden as he wrapped his arms around Dino's leg. "Don't say that to Dino-Nii!" he said, retreating further back behind his guardian's leg.

Dino sighed and opened the door. "Inside."

Kyouya looked at both his brothers before he strolled inside. "Hn."

Dino's fingers curled. _Brat…that little brat is getting out of line,_ he thought. He forced on a smile and gently pushed at Tsuna's head. Tsuna went inside. Dino followed him in and, closing and locking the door, he collapsed against it. Mission accomplished.

The kids shed their shoes, schoolbags, and jackets in the entrance before they bolted off down the short hallway, past the open living room door and the staircase, and to the kitchen beyond. Just a few moments later, Dino heard Tsuna crying. With a groan, he pushed himself to his feet and took off his jacket. Hanging it up, he then followed the sound.

The kitchen was a tidy and small place. To the right of the door, the corner was taken up by a square table. To the left, the chamber was taken up by an island with a fruits basket. Hibari stood before this island, an apple in one hand. The other was shoved into Tsuna's face, holding the smaller child at bay as he ate his apple.

When he saw Dino, Tsuna scurried over. "Dino-Nii! Kyou-Nii stole the apple I was going to eat!"

"Then be a man and fight for your food." Dino grumbled as he went over to the table and sat down.

"E-eh?" Tsuna cried, staring up at the man with an incredulous gaze. "Fight…?" He looked back at Kyouya. The older boy smirked. "Try it. I'll bite you to death."

Tsuna got scared while Dino's eyes nearly bogged out of his head. "Wh-what was that, Kyouya? Where did you learn a phrase like that?"

Kyouya continued to eat his apple calmly. He walked over to the table and climbed onto a chair. He stared at Dino over the tabletop, still munching. Tsuna and Dino waited expectantly. Kyouya finished eating and lobbed the remains of the apple in the bin, on the other side of the room. Taking out a folded up tissue from the pocket of his school pants, he wiped at his hands and then his mouth. Scrunching the tissue up, he tossed that in the bin too.

He cleared his throat and folded his hands atop the surface of the table. "At break today," he began, his perpetually blank face not changing a bit as he told his story, "two teachers went into the janitor's closet. The man said "I'll bite you" and the woman sounded like she was in pain and she kept screaming "harder" and then she screamed really loudly. I thought he'd killed her, so the man must have bitten her to death, but I saw her at lunchtime and the man was touching her leg when he thought no one was looking. His hand went up her skirt and…"

"That's enough!" Dino hollered, slamming his hands on the table. "What kind of teachers do you have at that school? I'm filing a complaint! Tell me their names…!" He felt a tug at one pant leg.

"Dino-Nii, why is my nose bleeding?" Tsuna asked innocuously as a thick trail of red leaked from his nose, over his lips, and down his chin onto his white shirt.

"ARGH!" Dino yelled. He picked the child up and set him down on the tabletop. "You dirty-minded little boy! What were you thinking about?"

Tsuna started to wail. Dino tried to clean up the bloody mess with a handkerchief he pulled out of the breast pocket of his shirt. He growled. "Tsuna, shut up a minute! I'm tryna clean you up!"

If anything, Tsuna's wails gained volume. Dino yelled, hands curled in his hair, about ready to yank it out.

He paused, though, as Tsuna's cries abruptly ceased. He frowned. His eyes nearly fell out of his head as he saw a baby's milk bottle sticking out of the boy's mouth. He was sucking like there was no tomorrow.

Dino groaned as he sat back in his chair. "Why the hell's a five-year-old drinking milk from a bottle?"

"Because he never got any from his momma's titties." Kyouya replied, face still blank.

"What? Where did you pick up language like that?" Dino yelled, one hand slamming down on the table again. This startled Tsuna, who started to cry again, the bottle falling from his grasp. "Crap!" Dino cried, picking up the bottle and shoving it into child's mouth. Tsuna started to choke.

"SHIT!" Dino screeched, taking the bottle back and rubbing the child's back. "Kyouya, quick! Get some water! Hurry! I'm sorry, Tsuna! Come on, calm down! Please!" He was practically hyperventilating. And the more panicked he grew, the harder he hit Tsuna's back. Tsuna's cries were one decibel away from bringing the roof down.

"Kyouya, where's that water?" the guardian howled, looking back as Kyouya stopped behind him. Dino blinked. "What…what the hell is that?"

Kyouya held up his cupped hand. Water dripped from between his fingers. "You said some water." he shrugged.

"A glass! I meant a _glass_ of water! Please!"

Sighing as if he was bearing the weight of the entire world on his little shoulders, Kyouya turned and went back to the sink. Dino took a few calming breaths and tried to pat Tsuna's back more gently. "You'll be okay, Tsuna. Probably."

* * *

Um...yeah, my sense of humour isn't that great, I know :\ anyway, there is very little story here so I'm open to suggestions for these three :) any crackish scene you want to see, lemme know and I'll try to write it. No pairings, though. At all. Whatsoever. Not sure when I'll be able to update, as this was a very random project that I decided to undertake and I have other more pressing matters to deal with. Thanks for reading!^_^


	2. Chapter 2

Whoo! It lives! I do intend on releasing more chapters of this...cuz I'm not that big a fan of one-shots by themselves. I'm open to ideas cuz, ya know, the humorous part of my brain is a shrivelled up prune and would be hard pressed to keep coming out with ideas that might actually make people laugh.

Thanks to all who read and reviewed. I hope you enjoy this chapter too ^_^

* * *

Dino had just placed the last dish on the table when eager small hands began to reach for the food. "Guys! How many times do I have to tell you to wait until everyone's seated?" he asked, looking at his charges.

Kyouya didn't care and kept piling food onto his plate. They were having grilled steak with boiled potatoes, peas, and sauce. The black-haired boy was a surprisingly big eater, considering he was quite slender. Two pieces of steak, what might have been twice the weight of that in potatoes, and several spoonfuls of peas, all topped off with creamy white sauce.

The complaints would begin soon.

No sooner had the thought formed in Dino's mind that Tsuna spoke. "Dino-Nii!" he whined. "Kyou-Nii's taking all the food!"

"What are you talking about, herbivore?" Kyouya said, pointing at the serving dishes in the middle of the table. "There's plenty of food left."

"Kyouya, can't you moderate your appetite? Even though I did make extra…" Dino sighed. He helped Tsuna get his food in his plate. No matter how much food he made, Kyouya always took most of it. He was only eight but he ate the portion of two healthy men!

Kyouya didn't respond. Tsuna looked down unhappily at his plate. "It's…it's so less." He looked up at Dino with troubled eyes. Dino's heart almost broke just looking at him. "Aw, Tsuna, you can have my share if you want." he offered.

Tsuna smiled brightly. "Really?"

"Sure." Dino unloaded his untouched food onto Tsuna's plate. There really was very little left. He gazed sourly at Kyouya, who was eating calmly, his attention on his food. He rarely talked when he ate…but he rarely talked at all. He was a well-mannered child. He just wasn't very sociable.

"Thank you, Dino-Nii!" Tsuna cried happily, digging into his food with gusto. He cast suspicious glances over at Kyouya and shielded his plate with one arm.

The younger of the two boys made a big mess so, halfway through it, Dino started to feed him like he always did. Tsuna was like a little baby.

Kyouya finished eating first. He held his plate out. "I want seconds." he said.

"You can't have mine!" Tsuna yelled, guarding his plate as Dino continued to feed him. The man sighed, "Kyouya, I think that's enough for today."

"Your cooking is awful." the black-haired child mumbled as he hopped off his chair and made his way out of the room.

"Oi, Kyouya! It's your turn to wash the dishes today!" Dino called out. "Kyouya!"

As usual, he was ignored. He groaned. He would have to do the task once again, as he always did. Tsuna and his butter fingers were much too unreliable for the cutlery. He could barely carry a plate to the sink without falling over and breaking it. Dinner was such a chore for Dino. Sometimes, he wished he could order takeout every day, but that was unhealthy, and Kyouya didn't like too much fast food.

After Tsuna was done eating, Dino told him to go wash his hands and his face, where bits of food had stuck. The boy jumped off the chair and headed over to the sink. Dino started piling the plates up. His stomach grumbled loudly. He made a face. He'd get something to eat after the kids went to bed.

Tsuna hopped out of the kitchen. "I'm going to watch TV, Dino-Nii!"

"What's on for you at this time?" Dino called after him, but the child was already gone. Clicking his tongue, he went to deal with the dishes.

He was cleaning up the countertops and putting everything away a few minutes later when Kyouya came in. "I'm going upstairs now." he said.

Dino nodded. "All right. Good night."

"Good night."

He never understood why the child did that. Every night, he came to find Dino before he retired to his room. It had been a peculiarity he'd had since he'd first come here. Dino wanted to ask him why he did it but if he did so, Kyouya would probably stop it and, at least this way, he was interacting with his guardian a little.

When the cleaning in the kitchen was done, Dino made himself some coffee and went to the living room. In the doorway, he almost tripped over an errant toy. "Whoa!" He reached out and caught the doorframe before he could fall. Hot liquid sloshed over the rim of his mug and onto his hand. He hissed and stood up straight. The toy was a car Tsuna had gotten a few months back. Dino shifted it to the side with his foot and went to put his mug down on the mahogany table.

On the sofa closet to the TV, Tsuna was curled up and sleeping. Dino went over to him, mindful of more toys littering the floor. He shook the child's shoulder. "Tsuna." he called gently.

Tsuna wiggled around a little before settling down again. "Kyou-Nii's a demon…" he mumbled, hugging his favourite action figure. Dino pried the toy away and then bent down and picked the child up from beneath the arms. Tsuna murmured a protest before he settled his head against Dino's shoulder.

Dino traced a careful path back to the door. There were a few toys on the stairs too and, clumsy as he was, he nearly fell several times. He managed to right himself before he could, though. His clumsiness wasn't as bad as it had once been, before these kids had come.

Upstairs, he crossed the brown-carpeted hallway and went to the room directly opposite the stairs. This was Tsuna's room. It was an absolute mess. The dark blue bedcovers weren't made, clothes were falling out of the open wardrobe door, and toys were all over the place. These toys were going to be the death of him one day.

The boys hadn't had a chance to redecorate their rooms since they'd come, in the seven months that they'd been here (not counting Tsuna's various scribbles over his bedroom walls). Dino didn't feel it was necessary yet. When they grew up a little more and decided how they wanted their personal spaces to look, they could redecorate then. For now, they'd have to make do with the bland walls and the brown carpet.

Dino pushed a small teddy out of the way as he laid Tsuna down and pulled the coverlet to the boy's chin. Dino knelt at the bedside, watching the child. Tsuna was a really cute little kid. Out of the two, he relied more on Dino's support than Kyouya did. He got scared easily and clung onto his guardian frequently, which was unusual for most five-year-olds. Dino didn't mind it, though. It felt nice, knowing that he was wanted…somewhere.

He rose after a few moments and, pausing to tuck in Tsuna's duvet a little, he turned. Tsuna didn't like the dark so Dino lit the lamp on the bedside table before he went. He closed the door, leaving it a little ajar just in case. The room to the right was Dino's and the room to the left was Kyouya's. Dino went over to that door too.

He knocked, because Kyouya didn't like having his privacy invaded. When no answering response came, Dino swung the door open anyway. If the child was awake, he'd respond, even if it was to say "don't come in".

The room beyond was dark. The curtains were drawn over the windows. They were thick curtains, and black, and they didn't let it any light from outside. Kyouya had a thing for black; most of his casual wear consisted of black clothes, most of his room was black, most of the gadgets he was interested in collecting were black. Like the PSP he usually carried everywhere. Shiny black. Dino had asked him one time why a kid would like black so much and the child had simply said "style".

Dino stilled his movement for a while, until he could properly hear the regular breathing of the room's occupant. After standing there just a moment longer, he retreated, closing the door carefully behind him.

On the way down, he cleared up the toys in the hallway and the stairs. He tripped at the landing and went down, hitting every single step on the way. Clutching his head with both hands, he waited for the pain to subside. He hoped he'd not woken the kids up. This was his free time. He was hungry too. He needed to get food. He'd never get it if the kids woke up.

Moments passed and no one came. Dino stood up and crawled back up the stairs to grab all the toys. He took the load to the living room and dumped it in the big plastic toy box situated in one corner.

His coffee was getting cold. He turned the TV on and took the mug to his favourite sofa and browsed through the channels. Ah, quiet. So nice. He didn't mind at all that those two had been dumped on him so suddenly but, sometimes, peace and quiet was just heavenly.

* * *

It was early one mild autumnal morning that Dino walked down the hallway of his small apartment. The door rang again. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming…" his sentence culminated in a yawn. One hand was under his blue and white shirt, scratching his stomach.

He'd just gotten out of bed, as was apparent because he was still in his pyjamas and his hair was sticking up all over the place.

He opened the door and blinked out at the three people outside. Silence stretched. Dino blinked. "Can I help you?" He yawned.

Two little boys looked up at him. Behind them was a man in a four-piece black suit. He had black hair and wore glasses. "Good morning, Master Dino."

Dino stared for a little bit longer, still scratching at his abdomen. The three visitors stared at his white pyjama bottoms depicting loads of little yellow smilies with different expressions. There was one big one on his shirt and it was grinning widely.

He blinked a few more times before he caught on. "ROMARIO!"

Romario snorted under his breath, "that was quick." He smiled at the young man. "How are you, Master Dino? We rarely get calls from you back at home. Everyone is worried about you. Including your father."

Dino broke off giving the children a bright grin as he took in Romario's words. "Really? Last time we talked, he was still blathering on about me coming back home…and make him some pasta. What the hell? Aren't there any cooks there?" He scoffed. Before Romario could say anything in response, the young man continued, "What's with the kids?"

He studied them a little more closely. One had cold grey-blue eyes. He was obviously the elder of the two. The other child was shorter. He had a head of wild brown hair. His brown eyes were nervous.

Dino smiled at them as Romario explained. "These children are called Kyouya Hibari and Tsunayoshi Sawada. As per your father's wishes, they were brought here to you. You will be looking after them."

Dino had been about to introduce himself to the kids but he jolted upright. "What? I have to look after them? Why? I mean, no offense to you kids," he quickly said to the children, before returning his gaze to Romario, "but I've got university to think about!"

He was currently in his first year of university. He'd tried very hard to come to Japan for his studies and his father was already pushing things on him. This was so unfair.

Romario looked at him apologetically, "I'm sorry. I did suggest to boss that he should tell you about this before we turned up on your doorstep but these children have nowhere else to go."

Dino didn't mind kids. They were funny and cute. So, he wouldn't mind putting up with them for a while. His father had a habit of throwing a wrench in his plans anyway, no matter where he was. He didn't like this next-level meddling but he was used to it. He sighed, "fine, fine. How long will I have to do this?"

"We're not sure yet."

"What d'ya mean you're not sure?"

"Um…master said not to tell you anything beyond them needing your care."

"What? That's stupid!"

"Will you do this?"

The young man scoffed. "Like I have a choice."

Romario smiled, looking grateful. Dino took the two small suitcases that the older man handed over. "All right then, come on in, guys." He grinned.

As instructed, the children stepped over the threshold. Romario stayed outside. "I'm afraid I'll have to go. Before I do though, boss told me to tell you that he said that he thought he'd told you many times to that he wanted you to call. This time, though, he wants to have a word about leaving money in your bank account. He wants you to buy a house and look after the kids properly."

"Eh?" Dino asked, somewhat startled. "Dad's paying me for this?"

Romario nodded. Dino scoffed. "What, a bribe? That's unlike him."

"No, you'll be looking after these children a while so you'll need more funds. Then, I'll be taking my leave."

"Wait, I don't get any more explanations?"

"Sorry. Goodbye, Master Dino." And Romario was gone. Dino sighed and closed the door. He turned. The kids were nowhere to be seen. "Yo, kiddies?" he called out.

"Aah, Kyou-Nii! Don't do that!"

He followed the frightened voice of (he assumed) the younger boy to the living room. There was just one couch in there and it had held all his university textbooks and papers. Everything was now on the floor and the child in black was sitting there. The brown-haired boy lingered anxiously by the arm of the couch, looking frightened. He turned as Dino came in and he tried to disappear into the back of the couch, looking afraid. Dino laughed it off though. "I don't mind you finding a place to sit, but please don't treat other's things like that."

The black-haired boy stared up at him blankly. The smaller child, seeing that Dino wasn't angry, relaxed a little, but he was still edgy. Dino spoke to him as he bent down to retrieve his books off the floor, "So, what's your name?"

"Um…Sawada…Tsu-Tsunayoshi…Sawada."

"Can I call you Tsuna?"

The child nodded. "A-and…and you, Onii-san?"

Dino smiled. "Me? You can call me…Dino-Nii." He turned to look at the other boy, directly in front of him. "So, you're Kyouya?"

"You can't be very bright if you still can't figure that out after being told both our names and you already know which one _he_ is." Kyouya said, tone not changing a single bit as he turned his head to indicate Tsuna.

Dino chuckled, "not very friendly, are you? So, you kids want breakfast?"

"That's naturally what you start the day with." Kyouya replied. "Isn't it?"

Dino sighed and set his load down on the small coffee table. "How old are you?"

Kyouya didn't answer. Dino turned to look at Tsuna. The child splayed the fingers of one hand and then counted on them, "Um…let's see…Kyou-Nii's two years older than I am…I'm going to be five soon…I think."

Dino looked back at the black-haired boy. "Quite rude for a seven-year-old, aren't you?"

Dull blue eyes stared up at him. Not in defiance, not in anger. Just plain…blankness. "And you're quite useless for an adult. I'm hungry."

"All right. I'll get the food." Dino shook his head disapprovingly. Much as he liked kids, he already knew this wasn't going to be easy. What kind of a responsibility was this anyway? He was only five months into his university course and enjoying Japanese life and he already had trouble. Stupid father.


	3. Chapter 3

Ah, Saturday. Blessed day. No university, no friends complaining that he didn't hang out with them anymore, no kids…

"Dino-Nii!"

Half-asleep, Dino groaned and tried to pull his duvet over his head. This was Saturday! Sleep! Sleep! He wanted to SLEEP!

"Dino-Nii!" Tsuna tugged at the duvet. "Dino-Nii!"

"What?" Dino grumbled, self-pity welling up inside him. This was Saturday…! Sob…!

Tsuna pulled the duvet off his guardian's head. He gave the man a bright grin. "Good morning!"

Dino almost stopped the self-pitying at the smile. This kid was just so cute! But this was Saturday! _Saturday!_ It was an eventful day! The day he slept late! He sighed and turned over. "Let me sleep."

"B-but, Dino-Nii, I'm hungry." Tsuna said.

"Then get a snack or something. Please let me sleep." The duvet was thrown over the blond head again.

"Um…Kyou-Nii's making breakfast. I think he burnt somethi…" Tsuna started to say.

"WHAT?" Dino immediately shot out of bed. Unfortunately, his legs tangled in the duvet and he fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Dino-Nii! Are you okay?" Tsuna exclaimed.

The man flung the duvet off and jumped to his feet. "This is no time to worry about that! I have to stop the house being burnt to the ground!" With that, he turned and fled the room. Tsuna waited. A few moments later, there was another crash. The boy winced and rushed out. At the top of the stairs, he too fell and, with a cry, tumbled down. At the foot of the stairs, his head collided against Dino's stomach, driving the air out of the man's lungs.

"Ow…" Dino groaned as he got the boy off of him and sat up. "Geez, Tsuna, what's your head made of?"

"I'm sorry, Dino-Nii." Tsuna said.

Dino scrambled to his feet. He could already smell something burning and smoke was coming out of the kitchen. It was a strong smell. This was bad! "Kyouya! What're you doing?" he called out before he even got in the kitchen.

Once he did get inside, though, he wished he was seeing some bad dream. Something on the stove was on fire and a thick screen of smoke filled the kitchen. Standing before the stove was the little black-haired boy. He was still in his black pyjamas. There was a bandanna wrapped around the lower half of his face, to provide some relief from the smoke.

Coughing, Dino went to throw open the back door and then hurried over to the window and opened that too. Any minute now, the smoke alarm would go off. Tsuna was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, also coughing. Hand clamped over his mouth, Dino took Kyouya and pushed both boys out. "Don't come in!" He said, closing the door in their faces.

Hand still over his mouth, he went to the stove and turned it off. The handle of the pot was red hot. He got a dishcloth and took the pot to the sink, where he submerged it in cold water. Whatever Kyouya had been cooking had become black goo. What was this supposed to be? Was he trying to commit suicide by eating this crap? Or was he going to feed it to Dino and kill him? Dino wasn't totally averse to believing the latter.

The smoke slowly cleared out. Dino breathed a sigh of relief when he could get clean air in. He cleaned the place up and then went to let the kids in. They were in the living room, arguing.

"Kyou-Nii! That's mine!" Tsuna wailed.

Dino walked into the room. The children were having a tug of war over a teddy bear.

"I need to experiment with it." Kyouya said, easily overpowering the other. That done, he held up the teddy and ripped its belly. Stuffing fell out. He looked down at it, displeased. He threw the teddy aside as Tsuna started to bawl.

Dino sighed. "What did you do that for, Kyouya?"

Kyouya looked up at him. "To see if there was anything unusual in it?"

"Why is that a question? And it's a teddy bear; what did you expect was in it?" Dino asked as he went up to Tsuna. He knelt by the boy and put a hand on one small shoulder. "Don't worry, Tsuna. I'll try and fix it for you, okay?"

Between sobs, Tsuna nodded. Dino stood up, "I'll make breakfast now. Come to the kitchen." He stopped on his way to the door though and turned back to look at Kyouya. His expression was one of disapproval. "Don't try to cook when I'm not around. You'll hurt yourself."

"Hn." was Kyouya's response.

As he made breakfast, Dino thought about what to do for the day. That was already decided, though. They had things to get. Trips to town were always hectic, but they needed to be done. He didn't have the time to go shopping for groceries during the week, since he was busy with university. He barely managed to make it there in time every day, and it was the same when he went to pick the kids up from school. Everything was so hectic. Between all his rushing around, he wondered how he managed to stay upright at all.

He just about managed to pull himself out of his self-pity as he served the kids their breakfast. Kyouya had a whole pot of rice to himself, along with a few bowls worth of miso soup and a hell of a lot of tea. He didn't like the western food that Tsuna and Dino liked to eat every once in a while. At least, not for breakfast.

"Do you kids need anything from town?" Dino asked as he sat down with his and Tsuna's plate of toast. "It's better if I know where to go before we get there."

"Can we go to the park?" Tsuna asked brightly. Kyouya said nothing.

"After we've taken care of the shopping." Dino nodded. "So, do you need anything?" He was more aware of what Tsuna needed, since Tsuna wasn't quite as capable of taking care of himself and had to be looked after more. Dino was looking specifically at Kyouya, but the boy wouldn't speak until he'd finished eating. So all questions were postponed until breakfast was over.

When Kyouya finished the last of his tea, he put down his cup and briefly held his hands together and, bowing his head, he muttered, "Thanks for the meal" barely loud enough to be heard. Tsuna was still eating and making a grand mess of things. The tabletop in front of him was littered with the hard edges, as well as errant bits, of bread that had fallen when he broke off his toast to put it in his mouth. He was five years old but he ate like a little baby. No wonder he got teased at school.

Dino started picking dishes up. "So, do you need anything, Kyouya?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Don't tell me on the way back home that you need a new set of pencils cuz you broke the packet before."

Kyouya was about to reply but stopped, a thoughtful frown creasing his brows. He tilted his head to the side. "Ah."

Dino felt an urge to facepalm. "Ah? What "ah"? What is it?"

"I need to replace five exercise books that I tore, as well as another packet of ten pencils."

"Five exercise books? And what did you do to the previous ten-packet I got you last week? You broke all of them?"

"Twice a day, five days a week." the boy looked at the man as if Dino was dumb.

Dino did smack a hand over his face then. "What are you made of? Normal kids don't snap pencils. If you need some anger management, then I'll arrange for classes for you."

Kyouya frowned up at him. "Anger management? I don't have issues."

"Yes you do. Get a punching bag or something. Don't take it out on random objects."

Kyouya looked at him thoughtfully. "Can I vent my anger on you, then?"

"No you damn well can't!"

Tsuna blinked. "Dino-Nii, what does "damn" mean?"

"Nothing! Never mind!" Growing ever more frustrated, Dino picked up the pile of dishes and took them to the sink. "Tsuna, go and fill the bath. After you've had a bath, we'll go to town. Kyouya, you get ready too."

"But I haven't finished breakfast!" Tsuna cried.

"Ok, ok, finish first."

Kyouya left the room. When Dino was taking Tsuna up after finishing in the kitchen a few minutes later, the black-haired boy was emerging out of the bathroom, towelling his hair dry. He was now dressed in a pair of black jeans and a polo shirt. He looked over at Dino and Tsuna, the latter being carried up the stairs, and said, "herbivores" before going to his own room and closing the door. Dino and Tsuna exchanged a glance. Tsuna shrugged. Dino shook his head and went to Tsuna's room. He picked up a towel and clothes and then went to give the boy a bath.

* * *

"Dino-Nii! We need to get some crisps! And chocolate! Oh, and some sweets!" Tsuna cried, pointing out pretty much everything as they passed by the aisles of the supermarket. He was holding onto the side of the trolley as Dino pushed it along. He looked up, a bright smile on his face, "please?"

"No. We came walking, remember? If we get _all_ that stuff, who d'ya think is gonna carry it?" Dino asked, stopping to pick up a bottle of orange squash and then dropping it into the trolley. It had barely been five minutes but he was already annoyed. Kyouya had disappeared off somewhere, without Dino having even realised it. He'd been explaining to Tsuna that no, the little girl standing by the entrance looking for her mommy wasn't there to be bought and when he'd turned around, Kyouya was nowhere to be seen.

He'd intended on a quick trip but that was impossible with Tsuna tagging along. "Dino-Nii!" he cried, pointing once again, "Look! Can we get that?"

Dino looked to where he was pointing. There was a huge sign of a cartoon monkey pointing at a brand of kids' yoghurt. Dino frowned. "You don't like them. I brought them a few weeks ago and you spat it out, remember?"

"B-but, the monkey…" Tsuna said, looking up at the man with wide, distressed eyes.

"Don't make that face at me!" Dino cried, looking away. Already, he could feel his freewill being sapped away by that cute little face. This kid was too much. "All right, all right, just this once. If you spit it out this time, I'm going to take away your TV privileges for a week, ok?"

Tsuna grinned as he ran up to get a bunch of yoghurt pots featuring the monkey. "Ok!"

His interest in the monkey soon waned as he spotted cereal boxes featuring colourful depictions of other cartoon characters. Before he could point them out though, Dino said, "we're already got them. You're not getting more. Anyway, let's go find Kyouya."

Tsuna wasn't winning this one, even when he tried The Cute Face of Doom. The discovery of this Face had been but a few months ago, on a similar shopping trip. He'd seen an action figure and he'd really wanted it, though he'd not been able to bring himself to ask for it, since he hadn't been all that comfortable in asking such a thing of someone he hadn't known that well. But his eyes had been longing for the toy. Dino had noticed and went into the shop to get it for him. He'd learnt then that words weren't always the best tools.

It didn't work on everybody, just Dino, and that only at times. Mostly when Dino was in a good mood. At this moment in time, the majority of Dino's attention was taken up by searching from aisle to aisle, trying to locate his other charge so Tsuna drudged behind dejectedly.

"Kyouya!" Dino finally cried as he spotted a dark figure by the exit. "What're you doing over there?"

Kyouya didn't respond. As was in his nature, he'd found the place least frequented by people; the last of the doors leading outside. Dino groaned, "Kyouya, come over here, please."

Still, Kyouya didn't respond. Dino pushed his self-pity to the side as he wondered what to do. He could go over there and force the kid back, but they had the checkouts to go through and he hadn't gotten all his shopping done yet. He could leave the trolley and Tsuna here while he dashed over to Kyouya.

It would only take a matter of seconds, unless Kyouya ran out the doors, but Dino was apprehensive about leaving Tsuna alone for any period of time. The child didn't seem to have any qualms about wandering about the supermarket on his own. Before, he'd not been like that. He'd always stick to Dino's side like glue. He was picking up Kyouya's bad habits.

He didn't want to leave the trolley and take Tsuna and go, because then someone might make off with it (as had happened a few times in the past) and he didn't want to have to start shopping all the way from the beginning.

Or he could leave Kyouya alone.

He went with the last one. Whatever Kyouya's habits, he wouldn't just run off when he'd specifically been asked to wait…would he? Not that he listened usually. Dino didn't want to test it but there weren't many options and he just wanted to get home. It wasn't even midday and he was exhausted.

"Kyouya, wait there!" he called out, turning the trolley around. "We'll only be a few minutes!"

Kyouya didn't respond. After that, Dino rushed the shopping, ignoring all of Tsuna's demands and getting only the essentials on the list. There was anxiety creeping up his heart. Kyouya was a problem child. Problem children rarely listened. If Kyouya left the shop and wandered off on his own, how would Dino find him? This was so problematic!

"Dino-Nii! I want ice cream!" Tsuna cried, tugging persistently at Dino's sleeve. "Please! Dino-Nii! Can we get some ice…?"

"Be quiet, Tsuna!" Dino snapped. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh and the effect it had on the little boy was immediately obvious; his eyebrows scrunched up and his bottom lip trembled. Many of the shoppers around them turned to stare.

"Aah!" for a brief moment, Dino panicked. What to do? He was so mean! He fell to one knee and embraced the child. "Sorry, Tsuna." he sighed. "I didn't mean to shout."

Tsuna didn't say anything. Instead, he focused on not sobbing. It was rare for Dino to seriously shout at them. He was a calm person, usually. Tsuna was easily scared anyway.

Dino pulled back and peered at the child cautiously, "you're not crying, right?"

Summoning up his courage, Tsuna shook his head. "N-no…"

The man grinned and ruffled his hair. "Atta boy. Now let's go get that ice cream, huh?"

Tsuna grinned a happy grin. "Ok!"

So they got their ice cream and went to the checkout to pay. Dino was pleased. It hadn't been that bad today…

Well, that was what he thought until he glanced at the spot where Kyouya should have been. There was nobody there. Dino groaned and, picking up the numerous bags (having bought much more than he'd intended), he rushed out. Tsuna struggled to keep up. "D-Dino…Nii!" he cried breathlessly, bent over with his hands on his knees as he emerged outside the store, his little legs aching. Dino was already well ahead, head turning this way and that as he sought out Kyouya. The black-haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

His face a curious mix of resignation and annoyance, Dino returned to Tsuna. "Let's go. We'd better check everywhere. We can't leave without him."

Tsuna nodded.

They did search everywhere. There was a games store near the supermarket. They asked the staff if a small, black-haired boy of so height had come in. They said no. The duo of man and child checked the nearest café, vainly hoping that he'd stopped by for a bite to eat with the allowance he kept saving up. No luck there either. They tried yet another games store, but there had been no sightings of a boy matching Dino's description.

When they'd looked through as many shops as they'd thought Kyouya might stop at, they tried nearby parks. No luck, though Tsuna wanted to sit down for a rest. But there was no time. They'd been searching for about two hours now. They couldn't rest. Who knew where that kid would be?

They got their response an hour later, when they finally walked home. Dino had decided that he would call the police to search, since there was nothing else he could do. Tsuna needed to take a nap; he was practically falling asleep on his feet. He would doubtlessly be hungry too.

It was taking everything Dino had not to fly into a panic. The child he'd been entrusted with was missing! What was he going to do?

As he approached the gate of his home, though, he stopped, face a comical mask of relief and shock. "Kyouya?"

Tsuna jumped, taken out of his half-asleep state. "K-Kyou-Nii?"

Kyouya was sitting on the doorstep. There was a book in his hands. He looked up. "Yo."

More than three hours of frantic searching…Dino's eyebrow twitched. "Don't "yo" me! How long have you been here?"

Kyouya tilted his head to the side as he tried to estimate how much time had passed since he'd come here. "About…three hours."

"THREE HOURS? We've been searching everywhere for you!"

The child looked disinterested. Tsuna went over and flopped down beside him on the doorstep. "So tired…" he groaned. "Ice cream…"

Dino snorted as he walked through the two and opened the door. "You won't get that for a while. Kyouya, I want a word with you later. Day in day out, I keep telling you, don't wander off on your own! Don't give me heart attacks, brat! Come on, both of you, inside."

* * *

I wonder if the comedy bit is slipping... :\ Sorry for such slow updates. At least it ain't a proper storyline, right? There's something to be glad about heh heh...Oh wait...I might change that...if I can think of a proper storyline. I'm halfway there lol

Thank you for the wonderful reviews everybody and remember! Don't take it too seriously ;D


	4. Chapter 4

Tsuna waited quietly as he and Kyouya stood outside the school, scanning the crowd for any signs of Dino. The man was always one of the last to arrive, because of university. Kyouya kept looking at Tsuna. Tsuna was getting uncomfortable.

"What?" he finally asked, mustering up the courage to stare the older boy in the eye. But it didn't last long. Kyou-Nii was a demon who would pounce when people met his gaze for too long, or so Tsuna believed. Tsuna was scared of this person. Very much. He was a demon. A little demon. A demon with cold, cold eyes and a colder presence…Kyouya raised a hand and smacked the younger child upside the head.

"OWIE!" Tsuna cried, clutching his head. "What did you do that for?"

"You're an eyesore." Kyouya harrumphed. He spotted Dino in the crowd and began to walk. "Let's go. The idiot is here."

Kyouya was intuitive. Or rather, he could be if he so chose. Tsuna had been far too quiet of late. Not that it was any of Kyouya's concern. He had just noted it and the possible causes before putting it away to the back of his mind, where it might one day prove to be useful…or entertaining. Kyouya's failsafe amusement when things got boring was this young lad here, with the poofy brown hair. He was such a cry-baby, and Kyouya was a bit of a sadist. Seeing people in pain was great entertainment.

Tsuna spotted Dino too and ran up to him. "Dino-Nii!" he cried happily.

Dino laughed as the child bumped into his leg and, bending down, he swooped him up. "Hey, Tsuna! Sorry, were you guys waiting long?"

Kyouya caught up to the two. He looked up at Dino for a moment. "Yes. Can I kill you? It would make me feel better."

"What? No you can't!" Dino groaned and put Tsuna down again. "Anyway, let's go home. I brought the car today."

Dino's car was a small red one of the Italian sports variety which attracted many admiring gazes on the street. There was barely any room at the back. Kyouya refused to go in the back so Tsuna was shoved there instead, to sit next to some of Dino's university files and bags, much to the child's dismay, but nobody listened to his pleas about wanting to sit up front.

By the time they got home, Dino sourly regretted bringing the car. It would have been faster walking; there was so much traffic at this time, but he'd gotten out of university late so he'd gone straight to school from there.

It wasn't any easier with the kids in the car than it was bringing them home by foot. Kyouya was content to stare out the window…until Tsuna singled out one strand of his hair and plucked it. Kyouya turned, usually blank blue-grey eyes now chilly. "What are you doing, herbivore?"

Tsuna looked away and made a pathetic attempt at whistling. "N-nothing."

Kyouya turned around in the seat and lobbed a punch at the younger child. Tsuna started bawling. Dino's hand went to the stereo and music began to play. Music that was loud enough to drown out Tsuna's cries. As if in challenge, Tsuna's wails soon became even louder.

Dino groaned and turned the music down. "Don't cry, Tsuna. We're almost home."

"B-but…It hurts!" Tsuna protested. "Kyou-Nii's a meanie!"

Kyouya almost smirked.

"It's your own fault for messing around." Dino said. "Don't do silly things."

"B-but…it's boring back here!"

"Deal with it. There's not much I can do for you at the moment. Ow! Hey, what're you doing, Tsuna?" the man leaned forward in his seat, to get his hair out of Tsuna's reach before the boy could pull another strand out. "That's annoying! Small wonder Kyouya hit you, right?"

Tsuna made a sad face. "Sorry."

Dino looked in the rear-view mirror. Tsuna was making the dreadful puppy dog eyes. Dino's annoyance melted away. "All right, all right, you're forgiven. Don't pull my hair though!"

Tsuna grinned.

When they got home, Kyouya hopped out before the vehicle came to a complete stop. Dino tutted, killed the engine, got out, and then helped Tsuna out too. Tsuna rushed after Kyouya, through the now open gate to their small front yard, and up to the front door. Dino got out his own things and followed more sedately. He let the children in.

Another evening of chaos lay before him. A few minutes was all it took for Tsuna to rush up, get changed into casual clothes, bring his favourite toys down, and make a mess by leaving them everywhere. The clean floors never lasted. Feeling sorry for himself, Dino went to put his things away in his room. Kyouya was in his own room, probably getting changed out of his uniform.

While Dino was busy, Kyouya emerged from his room and went downstairs. Tsuna was playing with his action figures. He was always like that, playing by himself. Kyouya walked up to him and stood there until the smaller child looked up. He tilted his head to the side. "Kyou-Nii?"

"What?"

Tsuna frowned. "What "what"?"

Kyouya mirrored the expression. "What?"

"What "what"?"

""What" what?"

""what, what" what?"

"What?"

Tsuna was befuddled. "Huh?"

Kyouya kicked him in the side. Tsuna cried out. "OW! Kyou-Nii, you meanie!" He started to bawl.

Kyouya looked to the doorway, through which he could see the banister of the stairs. No Dino yet. He turned back to the brown-haired boy and squatted before him. He stared a long while, until Tsuna stopped crying.

Sniffling, Tsuna stared back…for just a second before he looked away, fearing for his life. "Wh-what is it?"

Kyouya frowned and stood up. "Nothing. Herbivore."

"What're you guys doing?" Dino asked as he entered the room.

"Nothing." Kyouya repeated as he left. "I'm going out for a walk."

"Whoa, whoa!" Dino backtracked and took hold of the back of the child's collar. "On your own? I don't think so."

"Don't be a fool. Kids my age go out by themselves all the time." Kyouya said as he turned and kicked Dino's knee. This provoked the jerk reflex and Dino released the boy as his leg snapped out straight.

"Kyouya…!" Dino began in what he'd have called his best reprimanding tone, but the child was already out the door. Dino followed after him. Kyouya was only eight; surely he shouldn't be out by himself! "Kyouya!"

Kyouya wasn't listening. Dino couldn't leave Tsuna in the house alone. Who knew what stupid things he might do unsupervised? So Dino settled for a yell instead. "DON'T GO TOO FAR! AND DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID! I'M WATCHING YOU!"

In response, Kyouya bent to pick up a small stone from the roadside. He turned and flung it at the open doorway. Dino just about ducked.

Tsuna wasn't so lucky.

"Dino-Nii…? I felt something hit me just now…"

Dino turned. "WAH!"

Tsuna was a live fountain, a spray of red shooting up from his forehead. He tilted his head to the side. "Dino-Nii…?" He dropped to the floor.

"TSUNA!" Dino cried. He turned back to look outside. "KYOUYA, YOU LITTLE MURDERER!"

Kyouya didn't turn back.

His walk led him to the school…of course, that was where he'd wanted to be anyway. He had a small amount of authority here, because he didn't like people bossing him about. He went to patrol the corridors. It wasn't that he was expecting to find something. He wanted to think.

The herbivore had been too withdrawn lately. Not that it was bothering Kyouya. He just didn't like irregularities. He had to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

School was stupid.

This was Tsuna's thought as Dino left the two children at the school entrance. "Have fun, guys! And don't do anything stupid!" he called out as he waved.

Tsuna's heart sank as he watched his guardian leave. He didn't want Dino to leave. School was stupid and boring.

To his surprise, Kyouya didn't disappear the moment Dino did. Instead, he remained where he was, at Tsuna's side. Tsuna frowned but said nothing. He wouldn't get a response anyway. So he made his way inside and towards the preschool sector. Kyouya followed. Tsuna walked as fast as his little legs could take him, the straps of his bag clutched tight in both hands. He had no luck in trying to outpace the other boy. Kyouya easily kept up.

"Why are you following me?" the younger boy cried, thoroughly freaked out.

Kyouya made no response but kept after the small boy. Arriving at his classroom, Tsuna hurriedly went in, feeling somewhat relieved when Kyouya didn't follow. Instead, the black-haired child stopped by the open door and peered in. Loads of children turned to stare at him. He stared at each and every one of them before he turned and sauntered off.

The children in the room then turned to look at Tsuna. "Who's that guy, Tsuna?" one of the boys asked.

"He's my brother." Tsuna mumbled as he bowed his head and went to his seat at the end of the u-shape of desks in the middle of the room. A crowd of three formed around the front of his desk. He looked up.

"You brought _the_ Kyouya Hibari here?" the lead boy sneered. "Were you trying to scare us?"

Tsuna gulped. "N-no…I don't know why he came. Sorry."

The fat boy was about to say more but the teacher came in and spoke before he could. "Children, settle in your seats please. I'll begin register shortly."

The boy glared at Tsuna before he and his cohorts turned and went to their own seats.

Outside in the corridor, Kyouya had come back to peer in through the window of the now-closed door. His grey-blue eyes narrowed. He turned around and walked off. Something was up.

* * *

"Hey, Tsuna, what happened here?" Dino asked, stopping the child before he could climb into the bath.

Tsuna stopped, one leg in the foamy water in the bath and the other out. "Huh?" He turned his head to look where Dino was pointing. There was a scrape just below his shoulder. It was quite deep and looked fairly fresh. Dino frowned and picked up Tsuna's white shirt from where the child had discarded it moments before. The fabric had frayed on the shoulder and there was a bit of blood. Dino looked back at Tsuna. "Why didn't you tell me you got hurt?" He'd not seen it earlier because Tsuna had been wearing his jacket.

Tsuna looked away and climbed into the bath. "I-it's…no big deal. I just fell."

How had the teachers not noticed this? The scrape wasn't bandaged. Hadn't they noticed? Maybe Tsuna had fallen on his way out? He sure was brave to keep the pain in, considering he was such a cry-baby. The man sighed and put the shirt down and stood up. "Okay. I'll go get you some fresh clothes. When you're done bathing, we'll get you a bandage, okay?" He left the child to splash around awhile as he crossed the hallway and went to Tsuna's room.

He picked out a pair of jeans and a red shirt with the words "I'm so Hot I Make the Sun Look Cold" across the front from the small wardrobe. He closed the door and then pulled out a pair of little sky blue boxers from the topper of the two drawers. He turned to the door but stopped short when he saw that someone was standing there.

Kyouya was leaning against the frame, his arms folded across his chest. Dino smiled as he walked up to him, "what's up, Kyouya? Did you finish your hot chocolate?"

The child didn't reply to that. Instead, he chose to regard Dino with narrowed eyes. "The herbivore…I don't suppose he told you?"

"Told me what?"

"That he's being bullied."

Dino shrugged, looking uncomfortable, "I know that already. He's always been bullied. He won't stand up for himself." It wasn't something Tsuna liked to talk about. Dino had mentioned it to the teachers but...Tsuna never gave any indication that he was being picked on so they couldn't look into it.

"It's getting physical."

"What?" he frowned. "What do you mean "physical"?"

"I saw it. The scrape on his shoulder, he got it because he was pushed."

Dino's jaw locked. He brushed past the child and went to the bathroom. Tsuna was playing, making what he thought were noises that a boat would make as he ran a little toy across the soapy water. He saw Dino stop at the doorway and grinned. It wasn't as bright as usual.

Dino tutted. Tsuna was hiding his pain. Why? He whined and moaned about things all the time but never about things that caused deeper distress. Why was he trying to be brave?

The man went to kneel before the bath and stuffed the garments in the top of the radiator. He helped Tsuna bathe and washed his hair for him. He contemplated saying something, to demand what was happening at school, but he didn't want to put the kid on the spot. Tsuna didn't do well under pressure. So Dino kept quiet and, as if sensing that something was wrong, the little boy stayed quiet too.

Usually, bath time was a fun and noisy affair but neither party was willing to talk today. Tsuna was out of the bath and getting dried off in a matter of minutes, without so much as a complaint about it being cold.

In the entrance of the bathroom, Kyouya watched them with disapproval. The easiest way of solving the problem was out. Dino was useless. Kyouya would have to take matters into his own hands, something he wasn't particularly looking forward to because he disliked intervening in others' affairs. If it was someone else's problem, then they should damn well sort it out themselves.

But this little herbivore couldn't stand up for himself to save his own life, the fool, so Kyouya was obliged to step in.

* * *

When Tsuna was in his classroom, Kyouya lingered. He never listened to the teachers when they told him to be on time for lessons. He didn't even have any use for those boring lessons; he could learn everything in his own time.

Up until break time, he remained outside the door, looking on inside, ignoring teachers and other students that came and always staying out of sight of the children within the room.

He'd never cared to realise before but Tsuna had no friends. Not a single one. When the teacher said that they would be doing group activities, all the children immediately rushed to their closest friends, hoping to be in the same group, but Tsuna loitered in his seat, looking from side to side with obvious awkwardness. The teacher would then choose a group for him.

Even then, he wasn't happy, and neither were his teammates. He was clumsy so he slowed everybody down. Nobody wanted to be grouped with him. When the teacher's back was turned and the children knew they could get away with it, they openly called him names, "useless Tsuna", "idiot Tsuna", "stupid Tsuna", and they laughed, spurred on by the hilarity that their peers obviously saw.

Many times, Kyouya contemplated just walking away, but he couldn't now. He'd taken it upon himself to bring an end to this idiocy so he would follow through with it until the offenders were hurt or a compromise of some sort was reached. He very much wished it was the former; he wouldn't mind beating up all these pathetic little fools…Tsuna included.

Why didn't the little fool stand up for himself? All he had to do was glare, push back when they pushed, or swear at them, or _something_, and the situation would be a little more bearable to watch, but he seemed a little too content playing a doormat and letting himself be walked all over.

When break time arrived, Kyouya went to a safe distance and followed the class outside, keeping out of sight. In the playground, he ducked into a bush so he could keep a better lookout without being spotted.

There was already someone in the bush…and it was a rather large bush. "OW! Hey…!" Dino straightened up just a little as Kyouya dived feet first into the bush. "Oh, Kyouya!"

Kyouya stared down at the man. "What are you doing? Stalking schoolchildren?"

Dino sat up and brushed off his jacket. "N-no! I was just…looking around."

"At what? The local wildlife?"

Dino flicked off a bug that was climbing up a strand of golden hair. He chuckled sheepishly but then stopped. He frowned at the little boy. "What're _you_ doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?"

"And shouldn't you be in university?" Kyouya scoffed as he turned to nonchalantly watch Tsuna, wandering in a corner of the playground, all by himself.

Dino didn't reply. He watched Tsuna too, his gaze conflicted. "What's he doing…all alone?"

"What, you didn't know? Nobody likes him. Neither do I, to be honest." Kyouya said casually.

Dino shot him a disapproving glance. "Don't say that. He's your little brother."

"Not by blood and certainly not by choice."

The man once more frowned. "That reminds me, you never did tell me where you were before you were sent to me."

Like all other times when Dino had asked that question, Kyouya waved it away, "it's not important. Why are you here?"

Dino sighed. "I was worried after what you told me yesterday. He's been a little too quiet lately."

Kyouya was pissed off. So this fool had intended to do something after all. Kyouya had gotten involved for nothing. "Well, I'm off then." he said, but he didn't make a move to get up and his gaze didn't shift from the lonely little boy wandering on the outskirts of the playground. Dino didn't say anything.

As the two watched, a group of three boys cornered Tsuna and led him behind the slide, out of the direct field of vision of the teacher. The boys' backs were to Kyouya and Dino but they could guess that the bullies weren't saying friendly things. Tsuna looked scared.

The obvious leader, the one in the centre with close cut hair, snapped an arm out and shoved Tsuna off his feet. Tsuna cried out. He hit the side of his head on the ground and then started to bawl loudly.

Dino's hand was enclosed around a branch of the bush and it snapped in two. Kyouya cast a glance at the man and saw that an unusually pissed off expression adorned his face. Kyouya wasn't too pleased either. The teacher heard the cry and looked around. By then, though, the bullies were just pretending they were taking turns on the slide and had just happened to see Tsuna fall over. The teacher bought the story. After all, everyone knew Tsuna was a klutz. She went to help the bawling boy up and led him inside.

Kyouya departed shortly thereafter, saying that he needed to get back to class. Dino muttered an absent "yeah, see you later".

Kyouya's revenge was about to begin.

* * *

"…see his face?" Takano was the name of the lead bully of the group who liked to terrorise Tsuna. "He's stupid!" he hooted, tears in his eyes as he laughed and laughed, recalling the look on Tsuna's face when he'd been pushed to the ground.

His two lackeys, Ichinose and Kawamura, laughed along with him, though they were a little more hesitant about it. Takano had always been the one to decide what they did so they went along with him, even if they didn't like his ways.

They were one of the first ones out of the school building but, upon emerging out of the door, they stopped. Their path was barred. Before them stood a boy with black hair and cold blue-grey eyes. He wore the three-quarter white pants and the white shirt and blue blazer of the primary branch of the school. The pre-school sector didn't have a uniform so the ensemble was instantly recognisable. It was rare to see someone from the primary branch here.

The strange boy said nothing. Takano frowned. "You're Kyouya Hibari, right? What do you want?"

Kyouya cocked his head to the side. "What I want? Hn…let's see…I want to bite you all to death." He smiled. It was a creepy smile. It set the hair on the necks of the three younger boys on end. They slowly backed away. Even if they didn't understand what this boy meant, they could feel the deadly aura rolling off of him, smothering them. Self-preservation was the strongest instinct.

Kyouya took two slow steps forward. The trio moved back three. Kyouya moved forward again. They moved back by twice as much, until they were in the school building again. Kyouya still came closer, though, driving them back until they'd retraced their steps to their classroom.

More students were coming out, saw Kyouya, and turned the other way. Even teachers wouldn't want to mess with this strange child.

"Wh-what do you want?" Takano repeated, sweat rolling down his face.

Kyouya wouldn't have replied anyway but before he'd even had a chance to think, a new voice called out. "Kyou-Nii?" He looked further down the corridor and saw Tsuna running up to them. He stopped short when he saw the bullies though.

Tsuna was usually one of the last students to leave the classroom. Today was no exception. The corridor was now clear. Kyouya smiled again. He didn't bother taking leisurely steps towards the terrified trio now. He ran. When he approached them, he lifted one leg off the ground and it arced around to hit Takano in the side of the head. They all cried out, including Tsuna. Ichinose and Kawamura wet their pants as they fell on their rears. Takano lay unmoving some ways behind them, driven back by the force of the kick.

Kyouya was not happy. Just one kick and the victim…er, opponent was down? How pathetic. So he set his sights on the next one. Ichinose was a blond kid with his hair falling in his eyes, which might have accounted for the tendency he had of randomly bumping into things but, right now, he could very clearly see his doom, fringe or no fringe.

"Kyou-Nii! Please stop!" Tsuna cried, managing to sum up just that bit of bravery despite his shaking legs. He'd always known Kyouya was a demon. This was proof! Demon!

Kyouya didn't pay him any attention as he advanced towards Ichinose, who seemed like he was stuck to the floor.

"Kyou-Nii!" Tsuna yelled, forcing his jelly legs on. "Please don't hurt them!"

Kyouya still advanced.

"Rugby tackle!" Tsuna hollered as he jumped, arms stretched out before him. He fell into Kyouya and knocked him off his feet.

"Herbivore," Kyouya said slowly, sitting up and pushing the smaller child away rather mercilessly, "what was that for?" Cold, cold, grey-blue eyes that suggested they would cook and eat the little tuna if a proper explanation wasn't given. Tsuna gulped and looked around. "U-um…well…Rugby!" he forced out. "I-I was practicing to tackle!"

Kyouya stood up, gaze growing even colder. "Do you want me to show you a tackle? I'll make my foot tackle your face. We'll see how much you like rugby then, little herbivore."

It took everything Tsuna had not to get up and tear down the hallway like a madman…mad child. He was in the presence of a true demon! Kyouya lifted one foot and his leg was raised high up, alarmingly almost one-hundred-and-eighty degrees from his other one. He was about to bring his foot down on Tsuna's large head, though it was more for the sudden fascination he had to see whether it would actually hurt the boy with that thick fluffy hair of his, but he was interrupted.

"KYOUYA!"

Urgh, he'd know that voice anywhere. It was so annoying and so loud. He turned to look, foot halfway to Tsuna's head while the boy cowered. Dino was running down the hallway towards them. The other two conscious boys had fled, wet pants and all. They wouldn't be associating with Takano anytime soon. Takano himself lay groaning some feet away, so he was still alive.

Dino went to help Tsuna up. "What are you doing?" he demanded, glancing at Kyouya quickly before checking to see whether Tsuna was all right. Tsuna gave him a shaky smile.

Kyouya sighed a sigh of the suffering and turned back the way he'd come. "When we get home, I want a hot chocolate with marshmallows and cookies." he said. "And then some ice cream and maybe some pie. And dango. In that order."

"What? What do you think I am, some sort of vendor?" Dino huffed. Kyouya wasn't listening. Dino took Tsuna's hand and led him back outside. Kyouya was already well ahead. The man sighed.

"Dino-Nii?"

He smiled automatically as he looked down at the child. "What is it, Tsuna?"

"I want some hot chocolate with marshmallows and cookies too, and ice cream and some pie." Tsuna grinned. "Oh, and dango."

Dino blinked like an owl. And then laughed. "You kids are impossible." Everything seemed back to normal.

Just to make sure, though, the next day, he went to spy on Tsuna at break time again – making up some excuse about one of his little brothers being in hospital to get out of university. Tsuna was still walking around alone, but he wasn't being bullied by those three anymore.

* * *

Wao...so, is anyone actually reading this? It's been ages! I do apologise but...this is a project I undertook to alleviate my boredom and there's no guarantee when the next chapter will be up by, but I hope you all enjoy reading anyway ^_^


	5. Chapter 5

Wow...it's been over two months...I hope y'all continue reading. Thank you if you do.

* * *

It was close to Tsuna's sixth birthday when Dino brought a girl home. It was the first time since he'd become Tsuna and Kyouya's guardian, a year ago now.

She was a good all-round girl; she was pretty, had good cooking skills, and was generally quite polite. She had one major problem though. She couldn't stand kids under the age of eleven. Especially boys.

When Dino brought her home, it was to a hallway littered with toys. The babysitter heard the door close and bolted out of the living room. "!" she yelled as she left, her face quite pale and her things clutched tight to her chest. Before Dino had left, she'd been rather cheerful and wouldn't even let go of Tsuna, because "he is _too_ cute~!"

Yukiko, Dino's guest, watched the babysitter go. "Who was that?" she asked.

"The babysitter." Dino said, holding some money. "And she forgot to take her pay."

Yukiko frowned. "Babysitter? I thought you said your brothers were old enough to look after themselves?"

Dino grinned as he led the way to the living room. "They are but I don't often leave them home alone so I thought I'd better call someone in, just in case."

"How…old are they, exactly?" Yukiko asked.

"Tsuna's going to be six soon and Kyouya's going to be…nine in May." Dino said after some thought. He smiled. "Yup. Nine." They walked into the living room. Yukiko nearly had a heart attack.

The whole place was covered with toys. Toys on the floor. Toys on the couch. Toys on the table. Toys even on the TV. Half of those toys were broken. In the middle of the floor, Tsuna lay unconscious and Kyouya was sitting cross-legged on his back, taking apart a remote-controlled car.

"KYOUYA!" Dino yelled. "What did you do?"

Kyouya looked back. "He argued with me."

"So? That doesn't mean you can go and knock him out!" Dino pushed the child off and turned Tsuna around. "Tsuna! Oi, Tsuna! Wake up! Hey! Come on!"

"K-Kyou-Nii's…Kyou-Nii's…a demon," the brown-haired child murmured. There was a huge bump on his head.

Kyouya harrumphed and walked out, not sparing Yukiko even a glance. She drew to the side as he walked past, as if she might catch some disease.

"Wh-where's Chitose-Nee?" Tsuna asked, looking around. His eyes fell upon Yukiko and he frowned. "That's not Chitose Nee-chan."

Dino sighed. Kyouya probably scared Chitose away. Tsuna would never scare anybody. He turned back to Yukiko and smiled apologetically, "ah, sorry about this, Yukiko-chan."

She swallowed her discomfort and smiled a strained smile. "I-it's all right…"

Tsuna yawned and walked forward, only to trip over a toy and fall to the floor. "OW!"

Dino chuckled despite himself and bent down to help the child up. "You're such a klutz, Tsuna," he grinned.

Tsuna harrumphed. "Dino-Nii's not much better."

"Hey! I'm not clumsy!" Dino protested.

Tsuna harrumphed again. "Never mind." Dino said, standing up. "Have you guys had dinner yet? Yukiko-chan and I have already eaten. Oh, this is Yukiko, by the way."

Tsuna stared at the girl for a while and then looked down and muttered a polite, "G-good evening."

Yukiko tried to smile again, though it turned out as more of a grimace. "Good evening."

Tsuna looked up at Dino. "I haven't eaten."

"Ok then, I'll make dinner for you."

Dino led the way to the kitchen and set about making some pasta while Tsuna sat at the table. Yukiko stayed by Dino and chattered about the movie they'd gone to see. Dino listened to the avid comments and smiled and offered his own opinions when they were required. Yukiko almost forgot she was in a house with two kids…

…Until dinnertime arrived. Dino went to stand at the foot of the stairs and shouted, "Kyouya! Dinner!"

Kyouya came back down. He spied Yukiko sitting at the table. "That's my seat," he said.

She felt irritation flare. "Get another dam…I mean! S-sorry." she gave another strained smile and got up, her insides burning. She wanted to shove the little brat's head into the plate of hot pasta in front of him. This little mothe…monkey!

"Ah, sorry, Yukiko-chan. You can sit here." Dino said, freeing his seat.

She waved a hand. "That's okay! I don't mind standing. If it's all right, I'd just like to use the bathroom."

"Sure. It's the first door on the right up the stairs."

"Thank you." She hurried out the room, away from the two little boys who were making a mess of their food or stuffing it down with speed. She felt ill just being there. How could Dino stand this? He was a nice guy and she didn't want to ditch him based on his home circumstances alone but…but…KIDS! Venomous little creatures that whinged and whined all day long without a care for others! It was awful being near them! They came with so much baggage! All the toys littering the floor in this house were getting on her nerves!

The bathroom was relatively clean. There were yellow rubber ducks in the bathtub, though, along with little boats and other bath time toys. They annoyed her. She had to keep the brats away without Dino getting suspicious. She could hardly have a peaceful evening with this perfect, rich, foreign guy if two noisy kids were in the picture!

Bed time! She gasped. That was it! After dinner, she'd put those two brats to bed and then settle down for a quiet evening! Never mind how she was going to coerce them into listening to her…but things work out!

When she went back downstairs a good few minutes later (having taken as long as possible in the bathroom), it was to the sounds of arguing. "…messing around! You're getting it all over the place! Tsuna!"

Wow, Dino could actually shout. She'd never heard him raise his voice like this before.

"B-but…!"

"No buts! Go get cleaned up and then go to your room!"

Looked like she wouldn't need to do anything. She smiled.

"Dino-Nii's mean!"

Yukiko peered around the kitchen doorframe. The table was a mess. Pasta sauce was all over the place. Tsuna's hands were covered in it and so was his face. Dino was massaging his temple. "Go."

With his bottom lip quivering, Tsuna slid off his seat and walked out the door. Yukiko jumped out of the way as he walked past, her lips curled in disgust. She went into the kitchen. Dino sighed. "Sorry about that, Yukiko-chan."

She waved a dismissive hand. "Not at all. Children should be disciplined."

He frowned at her haughty tone. She hurried amended, "ah…I-I mean…how about we watch a movie? What kind of movies do you have?"

He smiled. "I'll just clean up a little and then we'll watch, all right?"

"Sure thing."

Dino looked at Kyouya, who was still eating. "Kyouya, that's your fifth plate. Hurry up."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." Dino took the dishes to the sink. Yukiko offered to wash up for him and he went to clean the table. Between them, it didn't take long for the place to be sparkling.

"I'll go check on Tsuna." Dino said, wiping his hands on a towel. "I'll be right back. Kyouya, hurry up."

Kyouya stared at Yukiko. She stared back. He smirked and got up and left. She glared after him. Stupid kids.

There was a thump from upstairs, followed by wailing, and then a shout. "Tsuna! Hey, you okay? Kyouya, what are you doing here! Go to your own room!"

She sighed. This would be a long night. As soon as the kids were in bed, she could begin her plans to further her relationship with Dino, the hot perfect guy that all the girls at university drooled over. How _lucky_ was she to have actually landed a date with him? This was great!

He came back down a few minutes later, looking tired but he pulled on a charming smile when he saw her. "I'm really sorry about all this. I guess this wasn't what you were expecting when you came, right?"

She chuckled. "It's…it's all right. Are they in bed?"

"Yeah, they should be. So, should we watch that movie?"

"Sure thing."

"Here, I'll show you what we've got. You can pick." In the living room, Dino tried to clear up the toys as best he could and showed her their collection of DVDs. To her dismay, most of them were for kids. There were a few scary ones, though. She chose one that looked especially dark. She didn't like scary movies but, if she was watching one with Dino, would he comfort her? Cue the imaginary noblewoman laugh.

She put it in the DVD player and went to sit beside Dino. Dino was sitting with his arm slung over the backrest. Would he wrap that arm about her shoulders as the movie progressed? She blushed.

The light had already been turned out so the TV screen stood out. The movie started. The living room door was open. Around the doorframe, Kyouya and Tsuna peered in.

"What're they doing?" Tsuna mumbled.

"Watch." Kyouya said quietly. His eyes narrowed when Yukiko attempted to move closer to Dino, ever so slightly. This girl was annoying. It would be unbearable if she continued to come around here. It was no fun getting on Dino's nerves when he wanted to get rid of the two of them to go to that stupid girl. So they had to get rid of her and made sure she never wanted to come back. Ever again.

Kyouya took a hold of the back of Tsuna's pyjama top and dragged him towards the stairs. Tsuna choked. "K-Kyou-Nii…"

Back upstairs, Kyouya let the younger boy go. "All right, here's what you do…"

The movie was getting to a scary part. Yukiko screwed her eyes shut, leaning closer towards Dino. He rolled his eyes. What a childish girl. If she was easily scared, why'd she pick this movie? It wasn't all bad; he decided he liked her childishness. He thought it was quite cute. He was about to put an arm around her when he heard wailing from upstairs. With a scoff, he got up. "Sorry, I'll just go see what's wrong."

She looked disappointed. "Ok."

Upstairs, Dino went into Tsuna's room. Tsuna had tripped over a toy in the darkness. Dino turned the light on. "What are you doing, Tsuna?" Dino said, going over to the child. He picked him up.

Tsuna wiped at his eyes. "I-I was…I was going to go to the bathroom."

"But you went before."

"I needed to go again."

"All right. I'll take you."

"I-it's all right. I can go by myself."

"Right. When you're done, get back to bed, ok?"

"Ok. Good night, Dino-Nii."

"Night."

Dino went back downstairs. Yukiko resumed the movie when he sat down. A few minutes later, they were getting comfortable. Dino had wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she was leaning into his side. After this movie was over, maybe they could go up to Dino's room and…

_Thud! _

Dino groaned and stood up. "Sorry. I'll be two seconds."

She nodded, looking away so he didn't see the dark expression flitting across her face.

When Dino got to the foot of the stairs, he could hear faint protests from up there.

"Hey, kids! What's going on?" He got to the landing upstairs and saw that Kyouya's door was open and the light was on. He went over.

Tsuna was tied to the bed. Kyouya was dressed in a lab coat and in his gloved hands, he held some implements to cut. He wore a mask over the lower part of his face. Tsuna looked faint.

"Kyouya! What are you doing?" Dino cried.

Kyouya looked up at him. He shrugged. "I wanted to see what his innards look like. I'm thinking of becoming a surgeon when I grow up."

"That's all well and good but this is bedtime! Get to sleep!"

"Don't give me orders."

Dino walked into the room and untied Tsuna. The little boy clung to him. "K-Kyou-Nii's a demon…" he croaked. Dino sighed and patted his fluffy brown head. "It's all right. What're you doing in here anyway? You should be sleeping."

"Sorry, Dino-Nii."

He took the child back to his own room and put him to bed. "Now, go to sleep, all right? I'll see you later."

"Good night, Dino-Nii." Tsuna smiled. Dino ruffled his hair and left. "Night, Tsuna."

He went back down. He had a feeling this wasn't the last time he'd do this while Yukiko was here. In the living room, he sat down. "Sorry."

She wordlessly played the movie. Once again, a few minutes later, they were getting to a scary part and both were involuntarily leaning towards one another.

A high-pitched scream rang out.

It wasn't from the movie.

Dino bolted upright, heart juddering. "What the hell?" He ran out. "Hey! What's going on?" he called out as he ascended the stairs once again.

The source of the disturbance was Kyouya's room, again. Dino went in. He stared, aghast. "Wh-wh-what're you doing, Kyouya?"

Kyouya was holding a hammer and a few nails, standing at his bed. Tsuna was tied up again. He was sobbing, though there were no physical signs of harm. "D-Dino…Nii!"

Dino went to free the little boy. He frowned at the older of the two boys. "Kyouya, can I ask what you think you're doing?"

Kyouya shrugged again. "I decided that being a surgeon wasn't a good profession for me."

"And?"

"I thought I'd make a better torturer."

"He's a monster!" Tsuna wailed, clinging onto Dino like a leech.

"That works too." Kyouya agreed.

Dino rolled his eyes. "Stop terrorising Tsuna, all right? He isn't your toy." He left and went to put Tsuna to bed. "Now, don't leave your room, okay? No matter what."

"B-but…K-Kyou-Nii s-said that…" Tsuna began, "K-Kyou-Nii said that…I should stop you."

"Stop me? From what?"

"Th-that girl downstairs…isn't very nice."

Dino chuckled. "What're you talking about, Tsuna? Yukiko's one of the nicest girls I've ever met." He ruffled Tsuna's hair and stood up. "All right, get to sleep now."

In the hallway, he went to Kyouya's room again. The door was still open. "Hey, I don't know what's wrong with you but, come on, don't interrupt my date, all right?"

Kyouya was sitting at his desk with his back to the door. "Hn. Don't bring stinky girls home. It shames me to think of you as my guardian."

What was this kid's problem? Dino turned away. It wasn't really any of their business if he brought anyone home, right? They were the ones being looked after, not the other way around, and Dino had already sacrificed much of his social life to look after these two. Couldn't they just let him finish his date in peace? "Whatever. Just don't do anything to Tsuna."

"Or what?" the faint response came.

Dino continued on downstairs. In the living room, the movie had been paused once again. "I'm really, really sorry about this." he said. "It's tough, looking after kids." _Especially when one of them is a demon,_ he thought.

She tried to smile. Dino didn't try to put his arm around her this time. It felt kind of awkward. She wasn't even paying attention to the TV screen. Dino couldn't concentrate on what was in front of him eiher. He kept looking up to the ceiling, expecting to hear more disrupting noises. As long as Tsuna was awake, Kyouya might terrorise him. It wasn't that uncommon for Kyouya to get bored and pick on Tsuna to pass the time.

Upstairs, Kyouya was indeed in Tsuna's room. "Let's get on with the next bit."

Tsuna stared at his brother unhappily. "Do we have to? Dino-Nii likes her."

"Doesn't matter. She's not welcome here." Kyouya's face was a blank mask. Beneath that, he felt ire. This girl came into their home and acted as if they were vermin. She couldn't continue to do as she pleased. Kyouya hated it when people put up pretences; this girl wasn't the lovely, perfect beauty she made herself out to be. They didn't need a person like that in their home.

Downstairs, Dino sat up straight as he heard another thump, followed by pained screaming, and finally, something breaking. He bolted up. Yukiko was shaking. She held onto his wrist. "Don't go." she said.

He frowned. "I have to. I have to make sure nothing happens to them." his tone was a little apologetic as he extracted his arm.

"Then what about me?" she asked. She got to her feet. "Don't you care about me at all?" Indignation was starting to creep into her voice.

He turned to the door. He couldn't waste time here; god only knew what Kyouya might have done now. "I'm sorry. I like you, I really do, but I didn't know you'd be so averse to my little brothers being here. They're a part of my life so if someone wants to be involved with me, they have to accept them." He paused in the doorway. "Would you accept them?"

He'd realised that it wasn't the kids who were standing in the way of his social life. As much as he did wish that he had some more time to himself occasionally, it had now become ingrained in him to worry about the welfare of his brothers. He couldn't help it. They were his biggest priority.

Yukiko was shaking, her head bowed. She couldn't believe this! Just because of a couple of kids, she was going to lose this perfect guy! "I can't but…can't we still continue? I don't…have to come here, right?"

He gave her a rueful smile. "I don't think that would work. You wouldn't believe how many accidents Tsuna gets in. Even in the middle of seminars, I have to leave, to make sure he's okay. Sometimes, he has nightmares that are so bad it takes him hours to calm down, and I'd have to take the day off university. I don't think you'd be happy if I kept putting them before you, would you?"

She bowed her head. Of course she wouldn't be happy with that. Damn these kids! She brushed past him. "Then…goodbye."

"I'm sorry."

"No need for you to be."

The screaming upstairs had stopped. Dino walked Yukiko outside. She bid him a subdued goodbye and left. "Hey, would you like me to walk you home?" he asked at the gate.

She didn't even look back. "That's all right. I'll manage."

Dino watched her walk down the street until she disappeared from his view. He sighed. This was for the best. Probably. But damn! His first date in a while and it had been ruined completely!

On the landing upstairs, Kyouya and Tsuna watched on. Kyouya smirked and, just to show his joy a little, he clocked Tsuna on the head. Tsuna started to wail. After a while, Dino came back. He looked up at the two children from the bottom of the stairs. "What are you guys doing?"

"Rejoicing at our victory." Kyouya deadpanned as he stood up. He went back to his room. Dino climbed the stairs and picked Tsuna up. "It's all right. Let's go to bed, all right? For real, this time."

Tsuna wiped at his eyes. "Ok." He wrapped his little arms around Dino's neck and held on tight. Dino chuckled and ruffled his fluffy brown hair. Maybe he could think about other relationships when Tsuna could look after himself. Until then, being a good big brother was his top priority. No big deal. He hoped.


	6. Chapter 6

Extra long chappy...cuz it's Dino-san's birthday...even though the birthday in the story isn't Dino-san's...OH WELL! Happy birthday, Dino-san! I wish you were real; it would make me feel a little less like a fool about caring so much T_T

* * *

Dino had been planning on inviting all of Tsuna's classmates for a party, for the kid's birthday.

Sadly, Kyouya took the invites the evening before Dino was going to give them to Tsuna to give out.

Dino walked into the kitchen, having smelt something burning. He saw Kyouya standing on a stool, in front of the cooker. "Kyouya, what're you doing?"

"Burning the herbivore's birthday invites."

"What?" Dino went to see. Indeed, there was just a mess of black around the stove. He groaned. "Why're you burning them? I put a lot of time and effort into making those!"

Kyouya hopped off the stool. "Don't invite anybody then." he said as he left. Dino stared after him. What was up with him? Weird kid.

Tsuna came in a while later. "Dino-Nii! Can I have some hot chocolate?"

"Sure thing, Tsuna. Did you clean away all your toys?"

Tsuna looked at the floor. "Y-yes."

"That's a lie."

He made a sad face. "Sorry."

Dino clicked his tongue. "Go clean it up. I'll make your hot chocolate while you do that, okay?"

"Ok!" the child rushed out of the room. Dino rolled his eyes. Sometimes, it was so easy to make these kids happy. Well, that applied to Tsuna at least. He went to put a cup of milk in the microwave. As it was heating, he sat down.

It had been a year since these kids had been in his care. He'd tried asking Tsuna where he and Kyouya had been before they'd been sent to him and what kind of a connection they had with his father but, every time he did so, a warning look from Kyouya shut the smaller boy up. Dino had tried asking when Kyouya wasn't around. Still, Tsuna had been too shaken to say anything. Dino had rung home many times to ask too but his father was always cryptic about it. He'd asked how much longer he'd be in this position. His father hadn't been clear on that either.

It was exasperating not knowing, when he thought about how much his lifestyle had changed thanks to these kids.

The microwave pinged. He took the cup out and went to make hot chocolate. From the living room, he could hear the faint sound of Tsuna shovelling all his toys into the toy box.

"Dino-Nii! I did it!" the boy said as he came back. He tripped over the threshold and, for a second he lay there. Then the pain set in and he started to wail. Dino put the cup down on the table and went to help him up. "It's all right, Tsuna." he comforted.

It didn't take long for Tsuna to calm down. When Dino was around, he cheered up quickly. He smiled up at his guardian. The cuteness of his expression and the sheer innocence radiating from his eyes made Dino's heart feel like goo. The blond-haired man chuckled and ruffled the child's hair.

These kids, for better or for worse, were now an indisputable part of his life. He knew that much at least.

* * *

When Dino woke in the morning, it was half eight. He glanced briefly at the clock dial before closing his eyes and turning over. A few seconds later, they snapped open.

HALF EIGHT!

He shot out of bed and tripped over his duvet. "Aah!" rubbing his sore chin, he got up and dashed out the door. In five minutes, he was ready and went to wake the kids.

He went into Tsuna's room. "Tsuna!" he shook the little boy. "Hey, Tsuna! Wake up! You're going to get late for school!"

School started at nine. Dino's first seminar started at ten today so he wasn't too worried but these kids were going to get late!

"Wha…?" Tsuna opened one bleary eye. "Dino-Nii…?"

"Wake up! It's almost time for school! Hurry and get ready! I'll make you breakfast! Come on!" The man left and then went to hammer on Kyouya's door. "Kyouya! Are you up? Hurry up and come down for breakfast!" He didn't go inside.

He thudded down the stairs and fell halfway. "OW!" He didn't let it bother him. He had to get the kids ready! But damn! His butt hurt like hell! One hand on his sore backside, he hobbled into the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, neither of the kids had come down. There were less than fifteen minutes left! What were those brats doing? The man went to the stairs. "HEY! ARE YOU GUYS UP YET?" he yelled.

Tsuna hopped out of his room, one leg in his pants and the other halfway there. "Almost! I just need to…!" He slipped and fell. "WAH!"

Dino caught him. "Hup! Honestly, Tsuna. Be more careful." The child was dizzy and half-unconscious.

"You have no right to advise others." Kyouya drawled, appearing on the landing. He was dressed in his uniform, impeccable as always.

Dino set Tsuna down and went back to the kitchen. "Whatever. Come down and eat."

Tsuna sat down on the bottom step and finished dressing. "K-Kyou-Nii woke me. Sorry, Dino-Nii. I fell asleep. I'll…I'll never be late again." He seemed a little pale and jumped when Kyouya went past him.

Dino frowned as the children came to sit at the table. "Kyouya woke you? That's a first." He wondered what kind of a method that violent child would use to wake someone up. It couldn't be anything good.

Kyouya didn't say anything on it. He put his hands together and muttered, "itadakimasu" and started on breakfast. Dino fed Tsuna. There wasn't enough time for Tsuna to indulge.

Despite the big breakfast, Kyouya finished first and left the kitchen. Tsuna was a slow eater. The moment Dino finished feeding him, he went to throw the dishes in the sink and practically shoved the child out. "Let's go, let's go! We're late!" There were three minutes to nine.

Children who were late to school were given negative points. A total of five negative points in one month resulted in staying indoors during break and lunch for the younger children and, for the older ones, after-school detention, along with writing lines on why coming late was not acceptable.

Tsuna had had detention before but Kyouya hadn't. Maybe he was an outstanding student in class, so the teachers were really impressed and let him off the hook. He never really talked about what he did in class but Dino had the feeling he was the hard-working type of student. He was very smart for his age so he must pay attention to his studies a lot and he spent a lot of time holed up in his room. The rare occasions when Dino went into Kyouya's room, he always saw textbooks and exercise books on the desk.

He'd learnt long ago not to meddle in Kyouya's private affairs, even if he was the boy's guardian, so he never asked how the child was doing at school. Kyouya didn't like it and when he didn't like something, he vented on the nearest helpless person, who happened to be Tsuna – most of the time.

A few minutes later, with Tsuna's book bag and lunchbox in hand, Dino and the two little boys left the house. Dino locked up. They would take the car today. Walking to school would take at least twenty minutes and they didn't have that kind of time. Then again, there was always traffic about this time, which was why Dino usually chose not to take the car, but it couldn't be helped today. They had to take the shortest route and save as much time – something which would only be accomplished by car.

"I wanna sit in the front!" Tsuna protested.

"No." Kyouya said, shoving the smaller boy head first into the back of the car.

"Dino-Nii! Tell him! I said it first!"

"Just sit in the back, Tsuna." Dino said, rushing to start the car up. Kyouya shoved the front seat back and sat down, causing Tsuna to retreat behind Dino's seat. He was wailing at the unfairness of it all. Dino sighed and pulled away from the curb. As lively as ever. At times like this, he wondered what wrong he'd done to deserve a life like this. He was only nineteen but he felt like some old dude taking care of his troublesome brats.

When they reached school, such thoughts vanished. His main priority was out of the way. He could let up a little now, even if they were late. There was no helping that now. He rolled down the window to see the kids off. "Have fun, guys!"

Tsuna waved. As usual, he lagged behind Kyouya. Kyouya stopped by the school gates to stare at something on the wall. Dino grinned. The black-haired boy was being nice today…in his own, strange way. When Tsuna caught up, Kyouya began walking again. Tsuna turned back to wave again, a bright smile on his face. Dino waved back.

When the two had disappeared around the gates, Dino put the car into gear and drove off. Now, to get ready for class.

In the school, Kyouya and Tsuna split ways. Kyouya was bored. He had plans to go to the school roof and nap but, just for the hell of it, he went to his classroom.

"Hibari-kun!" the teacher exclaimed as he saw him. His jaw had dropped open. The children in the class were looking at Kyouya with fearful eyes. More than just a few of them had been subjected to abuse by the violent child. They remembered it well.

The teacher came towards him. "This is great, Hibari-kun! You're attending! Please, come in! Have a seat and we'll…!"

Kyouya shut the door in the teacher's face. He turned and sauntered off down the corridor. As he'd suspected, grouping with herbivores never yielded good results. He was getting annoyed already. School was boring. Everything was boring. He had a spare shirt in his bag (because these damned white shirts showed bloodstains too easily). He could go out and find something "fun" to do and Dino would be none the wiser.

The flaw with that plan, though, was that he was feeling rather lazy today.

He was on the school roof for most of the day. At break time, he was woken from his nap. At first, he was furious at the noises that had interrupted his sleep but break time for the younger kids would mean that the tuna fish would be outside too. He walked over to the fence lining the edge of the roof and looked down.

He saw ants. Ants which he wanted to crush. So insignificant. He managed to pinpoint the location of the particular ant he was looking for and found him, alone as usual. Tsuna was a pest. A burden. A chore. An eyesore. So unpleasant to behold. All the same, Kyouya didn't hate him, just like he didn't hate Dino. Hate was too strong an emotion for him to invest time and effort into maintaining. He didn't hate anyone. If he was especially annoyed with someone, he just let them feel his wrath and that was the end of it. There was no need to hold onto petty hatred…

"_Hey, kid, what's with that stare, huh?" the man leered. "Get out of the way." _

"_I refuse." Kyouya stated, standing before the bodies of the unconscious boy and woman behind him. The man hit him across the face again. He glared. _

"_Why? What're they to you? You're the son of a ruthless bastard, aren't you? Don't you share the same genes? You don't have any emotions like sadness, right?" The man laughed. "But perhaps it's too early. Childhood is a waste of time."_

As the memory resurfaced, his hold on the fence tightened. Perhaps he did hate a little. He stared out at what he could see of the city. Childhood was not a waste of time. He would use every opportunity he had and make himself grow. He would never be beaten again. He would never let someone make a fool of him. They wanted a ruthless bastard? He'd give them a ruthless bastard. He'd make them regret ever approaching him.

He left wide gaps in the wire fence as he let go.

* * *

"Kyouya?"

Kyouya stopped looking out the window and turned, in time to see Dino setting down a bowl of very generous scoops of ice cream. He was frowning. "You okay? You seem kind of…absent today."

Kyouya took the ice cream and plopped down on the couch to eat. He didn't reply. Somewhere during the course of his remembrances, Tsuna had disappeared, leaving behind the toys he'd been playing with. "Where's the herbivore?" he asked.

"He went to the bathroom." Dino replied. He sat down beside the boy, a few textbooks now in hand. He peered at his charge, brow furrowed. "Are you sure nothing's wrong with you? You're different."

How would this idiot be able to tell? Kyouya hummed in response as he stuck a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.

It was as if Dino could read his mind…either that, or he'd just seen the opportunity to ask. "What happened to you guys, before you came here?"

Kyouya put the bowl down and stood up. "That's none of your concern."

"Hey, come on, you're not ever going to tell me?" the man asked. "You might be stuck with me for life; won't you tell me then?"

At the door, Kyouya turned back. His gaze was chillier than usual. "You shouldn't be too curious about other people's affairs." With that, he strode away.

Dino clicked his tongue. He was damned curious! He had a right to know, didn't he? He opened up his textbooks and began to pour through them. Feeling sour as he was, he couldn't concentrate all that much so he was quite glad when Tsuna came in. "Dino-Nii! Can you read to me?" he said, holding up a small book.

Dino put the textbooks to the side and smiled. "Sure. Which story is it?"

Tsuna handed the book over. Dino frowned at it. "What kind of a book is this?"

On the title, it said in handwritten characters "_Brothers"_. The cover was plain. It was a handmade book, with no picture on the front and, inside, lined pages with big hand-written words and stick-men. The inside cover featured a name. _Written by Nana Sawada._ Dino's brows furrowed. "Sawada? Who's Nana Sawada, Tsuna?"

Tsuna looked down at his hands. He seemed awkward so Dino didn't push him. The man dismissed it and started to read.

"_There once were two brothers."_ There was a picture of two stick-men…boys. One had a mess of squiggles for hair and the other had small straight lines. Page turn. "_Big brother was very cold on the outside."_ The stick-boy with the straight hair was shown to have eyebrow lines drawn at a sharp downward angle, glaring at the stick-boy with squiggly hair. Page turn. "_Big brother was in pain on the inside."_ Now the straight-hair stick-boy was holding his nonexistent heart. Page turn. "_Little brother said that, one day, he would help big brother be happy again."_ Squiggle-boy declared this with a big toothy grin. Page turn. "_Little brother wasn't very strong and didn't know how to look after himself."_ Squiggle-boy was getting beaten up by other stick-boys. Page turn. "_Big brother always helped little brother."_ Straight-hair stick-boy was beating up the stick-boys who were beating up squiggle-boy. Page turn. "_Big brother's words were always cold."_ Straight-hair stick boy's eyebrows were drawn in a steep slant again as he glared at squiggle-boy, with the words, "_idiot. Don't let yourself get trampled all over_". Page turn. "_Little brother was happy that his big brother cared. Even though he was cold, he was very caring on the inside."_ The last page was of little brother smiling at big brother and big brother wasn't glaring anymore. The end.

Dino closed the book. "This was written a long time ago, wasn't it?"

"Um…y-yeah…" Tsuna mumbled.

"Then…where was it? I've never seen this before."

"It's Kyou-Nii's."

"Really?" Then it was understandable why Dino hadn't seen it before. Kyouya was very particular about his things being left alone. "Then why do you have it now?"

"Kyou-Nii gave it to me."

"Kyouya?"

"For my birthday." Tsuna smiled.

That was shocking! Dino swayed a little. "I-I think I need to lie down…I feel ill…"

Tsuna giggled and took the book back. He stared at it a long while, at the name on the inside cover. His smile slipped. He bit his lip, shook his head, jumped to his feet, and tried to run away. Dino took hold of the back of his collar and pulled him back. "Hold on a second there, speedy." he said, holding onto the little boy's arms. He peered at the child with concern. "What's wrong?"

Tsuna closed the book and shook his head. "N-Nothing."

"It obviously isn't nothing. Tell me." Dino said.

"I-I can't…" Tsuna mumbled, looking guilty. "I-I'm sorry, Dino-Nii." Tears were gathering in his eyes and he shook his head again. Dino let go of his wrists and he ran his sleeve across the child's eyes. Dino ruffled his hair. "Sorry, Tsuna." he sighed. "Don't cry, okay?" Much as he wanted to press Tsuna for details, he felt bad for instigating such sadness. Tsuna looked better with a happy smile, after all. "You don't have to tell me."

Tsuna nodded miserably. "Can I go now?"

Dino nodded. "Sure thing, kiddo." The boy turned and left the room. When he'd climbed up what Dino could see of the stairs, the man slouched and let out a deep breath. This sucked. He wanted to know!

He got up after a few minutes and went upstairs. The doors to both children's bedrooms were closed. That was rare. Tsuna must be really upset. Poor kid. Dino knocked on Kyouya's door. There was no immediate response. After a few seconds, the door opened a crack. One blue-grey eye stared out. "What do you want?" His voice was quieter than usual. He seemed a little off, lately. "What's the matter with you kids today?" Dino grumbled. "You're both acting moody."

"Is that all you wanted to say?" Kyouya said. The door began to close. Dino held it open. "Wait a sec. Can I come in?"

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Come on, please?"

The door opened just wide enough for Dino to see Kyouya's face. He tilted it to the side, expression thoughtful. "Only if you get me some more ice cream."

Dino groaned. "What? You're so greedy."

Kyouya waited. Dino's shoulders slumped as he gave in and turned around. "Fine, but you have to answer my questions, all right?" He got no response as the door closed. He went down and got out the ice cream tub from the freezer. He scooped out three large spoonfuls and made his way back up. He knocked. The door opened. Kyouya held his hand out. Dino handed the bowl over. The door was opened wider and the child went to sit at his desk.

"How can a brat who eats so much be so skinny?" Dino asked as he settled cross-legged on the bed and watched Kyouya eat. Kyouya savoured a spoonful of ice cream, staring at the window. He took his time. He put the spoon down and licked his lips. Dino was reminded of a feral cat. The child spoke. "I'll give you three questions." he said, holding up three fingers. "No more."

Dino was surprised. Kyouya had guessed what he'd come here for, then. "What?" the man protested. "That's so stingy."

"I'm at a stage in my childhood where being stingy is normal."

He snorted. "What stage is that?"

"I call it the Don't-Waste-My-Time-or-be-Bitten-to-Death Phase." Kyouya stated, taking another spoonful of ice cream.

"You're a weird kid, you know that?"

"Hurry it up. I have a game to play." To his right was a PSP, with many games covers spread across the desktop around it.

Dino sighed. "Right, right. Question one; who is Nana Sawada?"

Kyouya froze. For just a second, he looked startled, and then he looked off to the side. "I won't answer that."

"I thought you wouldn't." Dino scoffed. "All right, next question; where were you before we met?"

"In Namimori."

"That's too vague."

"Still an answer. Final question?"

"What? You didn't answer the first one so I get another."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

Kyouya narrowed his eyes. "I'll bite you to death."

Dino held his hands up. "All right, all right. Fine. Last question; how long have you known Tsuna?"

Kyouya shrugged one shoulder. "Since he was born."

"Whoa, really?"

"Yes. You've used up your questions. Can you leave now?"

"You're really rude." Dino stood up. "Whatever. Thank you for being _oh_ so generous," he said as he went over to the door. "Be sure to take the bowl back down. Please wash it."

Kyouya didn't respond. Dino glanced back at him one last time before he closed the door. Kyouya was a child, even if he didn't act it. Looking at him from the back, his smallness and his few years seemed to stand out. No matter how tough he tried to act, he was still a child. What had happened to make him act the way he did?

Dino went to his own room and, closing the door, he began to pace. It was something he did when he was anxious. Tsuna was upset about something. Kyouya was also upset. There was a Nana Sawada involved in the picture. What was going on? Why wouldn't anyone let him know? He was worried about them! If he was going to comfort them, he had to know what they were so worried about! Last year, they'd been upset too. Around the time of Tsuna's fifth birthday, they wouldn't talk at all, no matter how much he'd tried to strike up a conversation. Back then, Tsuna had been more wary around Dino. They'd been strangers but that wasn't the case now. They were family! He _had_ to know!

He left his room after a few minutes and went downstairs, feeling restless. He grabbed the wall-mounted phone in the hallway and pressed in a number. He waited for the operator to finish speaking and then pressed in another number. International calls were a pain.

It rang for just a second before someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Hello? This is Dino. Is my father home?"

"Master Dino!" the voice on the other end exclaimed. "How are you? It's been a while!"

"Romario?"

"Yes, it's me!"

"Ooh…hi." What were the chances that, out of all the subordinates that roamed around the mansion on a daily basis, the second-in-command – and the one who knew Dino best – would be the one to pick up? Maybe Romario liked answering the phone. Dino could picture him, standing next to the phone all day, ready to pick up the second it rang…or maybe he'd been expecting someone else to call.

He took in a deep breath before he continued. "Um…I really need to speak to father. I don't particularly care if he's busy. I have something I need to know."

"Is this about the children?"

"Yes."

"I see…I don't think the boss will be able to give you any answers."

"Fine, then you give me the answers. Who is Nana Sawada?"

"I'm sorry, Master Dino. I don't know."

"Come on, Romario, if you don't tell me, I'm going to take matters into my own hands." Dino glowered at the wall. "I'll steal police records. Do you want that?"

"Master Dino! Don't do something like that, please! Your father won't be able to sleep!"

"So tell me! Do you know how frustrating this is? I have a right to know, don't I?"

"I…Yes…I'm sorry. Yes, you do, but I haven't the authority to tell you and neither am I involved in this mess enough to disclose smaller, insignificant details. Only those involved in the case can let you know. And they _will_ let you know."

"So when will that be, exactly?" Dino hissed. He was aware that he was putting Romario in an awkward situation. He didn't want to but it wasn't fair, being so clueless. He hated the feeling. He took in a deep breath, held it, and slowly let it out. "All right, tell my father this; I care about these kids. He may not understand this but tell him that when you spend so long with someone, with a child no less, affection has a tendency to build. These children feel more like family than that useless old man ever has. Whatever has happened with them, I want to know. I have a right to know. Goodbye." He put the phone down. He brushed his hair back from his forehead and combed his fingers through it as he turned. He stopped when he saw the child on the stairs.

He pulled on his usual smile. "Hey, Tsuna, what's up?"

Tsuna looked worried. "I-Is Dino-Nii…angry?"

Dino shook his head. "Of course not. At least, not at you. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure as ever. You wanna help me make dinner?"

Tsuna's expression melted into a small smile. "Okay." He hopped down the stairs, to Dino's side, and both man and child walked into the kitchen.

Hours later, the children were in bed and Dino was trying to get on with some assignments. Just as he was finally starting to put his head down, the phone rang. He growled and threw his textbooks down. His work quality was never any good when he tried to do his assignments during the day but when the kids were in bed, he could put aside his worries about them and get on with it. It was the only time he got but now he was being interrupted. It had taken him a while to get into it tonight! Who was it now? He would give them a piece of his mind about ringing so late!

He picked up the receiver and put it to his ear. "Yes?" he said.

"Dino?"

His anger vanished for an instant…only to come surging back twofold. "Good evening, father." he said through gritted teeth.

"Don't take that tone with me. Romario told me you rang. I was busy. Sorry if it's late."

"What do you want?"

"I just said not to talk to me like that, son."

"It's the middle of the night so please excuse me for being a bit pissed off."

"I'm sorry. I know it's late."

"So? What can I do for you?"

The voice at the other end sighed. "Dino, didn't I tell you to keep some distance between you and those kids? It's not going to benefit you and it isn't going to benefit them."

"If you cared so much about what's beneficial to me, you wouldn't have sprung them on me in the first place. I had other problems to be worrying about but you still came and dumped them on me. I haven't really complained yet and I won't, unless you tell me what's going on with them." He heard creaking upstairs and looked, but the lights were off up there. He hoped the kids wouldn't wake. They were a pain to get ready in the morning if they got to sleep late.

"I know it was a selfish decision on my part but those children had nowhere else to go." his father said.

"I'm not asking for an apology, dad. I'm asking for an explanation."

"I can't tell you anything…At least, not until it's been approved by that person."

Dino pushed off from the wall. He frowned, looking up the stairs again. "_That_ person? Who?"

"I know this is unfair to you, I really do. I did say I understood when you said you didn't want any part of the mafia, isn't that right?"

"Wow, so you do remember that?" Dino scoffed, still peering into the darkness. "I thought you'd forgotten."

"Dino, I don't really care for that tone. Get rid of it. Have some respect when you talk to your elders."

"Respect works both ways, father. You're not respecting me."

"Why're you being so difficult? I never realised you were so spoilt."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me."

"Like what?"

"For instance, I'm really annoyed right now."

"I could guess that already."

"Oh good. So if you're not going to tell me something beneficial, I'm going to hang up."

"Dino," the voice growled, "must I repeat myself?"

Dino sighed. "Sorry. I need to go. I have homework to be getting on with."

"Do you have holidays anytime soon?"

"Why?"

"I was thinking maybe you can come home for a while…I suppose you could…bring the children too."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to. I'm going now. Goodnight."

Another sigh. "All right. Fine. Take care of yourself."

"Bye." He hung up. Well, that had been helpful. He huffed as he turned to the stairs. "Tsuna?" he called out as he went up. No response. "Kyouya, what're you doing, sneakin around?"

"I'm not sneaking around. You're loud." The voice came from the doorway of Kyouya's room. "I came to investigate."

"Well, investigate better, would you? I heard the floorboards creak." Dino got to the upstairs landing and flicked on the light. Kyouya looked up at him. He smiled, "so? What's up?"

The child shook his head and retreated into his room. He didn't close the door though. He looked back. Dino frowned. Was that some sort of invitation? He cautiously stepped inside. "Is something wrong?"

Kyouya sat down on the bed. "Why're you so concerned about our past?"

"Shouldn't I be?"

He shrugged. "It's got nothing to do with you."

Dino settled down beside the child. "Even so, I'm worried for you."

"That's stupid. Someday, we'll leave and everything will go back to how it was. You said so earlier on the phone that you had to keep some distance from us." Kyouya snuck a glance at Dino before looking back at the wall opposite him. Dino shook his head. "You heard that too? Don't be choosy about the things you hear. I also said that you kids are my family now, all right? No matter what, it won't go back to how it was."

"Why? You don't really need us here."

"That's true, but I don't _not_ need you."

Kyouya frowned. "What?"

Dino waved a dismissive hand. "While it's true that you kids aren't really beneficial to my existence or something like that, I wouldn't be any better off without you."

"You're not making sense."

Dino chuckled. "Doesn't matter…anyway, maybe it isn't like I think and you guys are beneficial to me after all."

"How?"

"Because you're my family. I'd always wanted a younger brother before I met you guys, and then I got two! You kids are incredible." He raised a hand and was about to ruffle Kyouya's hair but the boy gave him a look that clearly said "touch me and I'll bite your hand off". He retracted the hand. "I like having you guys around. It feels like I have a purpose."

Kyouya blinked like an owl. Dino grinned and suppressed the urge to ruffle the child's hair again. There was silence for a few seconds. Dino wondered why Kyouya was agreeing to talk with him about this. Did he understand that Dino was serious when he said he considered the kids as family? Was it a problem? What if these kids already had family? Then, if that was the case, why had this family never come to see them, or made contact at all?

He ran a hand through his own hair, thinking of what to say, of what to ask. "You know, I won't ever get rid of you but it depends on you if you want to leave. If you ever feel that you'd be better off without me as your guardian, then I'll talk to my father about it. He's the one who got you into this situation so he should be able to get you out."

"I don't need you to do anything for me."

"I'm just saying. I might not be able to care for the two of you as well as a normal parent or guardian should so maybe you'd be better off with another family or something."

Kyouya shook his head. "Another family won't suffice. Foster homes might split up the herbivore and me."

Dino was surprised. "You don't want to be separated? You always treat him like dirt though."

The boy shrugged one shoulder. "I have a job to do."

"What kind of a job?"

"That's my business."

The man groaned. "Right. So, you guys don't have parents?"

"We do. Our fathers are still around…somewhere." Kyouya answered, kicking at his desk's leg.

"Your mothers?"

"Dead."

Dino winced. So forthright. "Since how long?"

"Mine three years. The herbivore's two."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It happens."

What kind of a response was that, coming from a kid? That wasn't normal. "So, Nana Sawada was Tsuna's mom, right?"

"Yeah."

"What was she to you?"

"Surrogate mother."

"Oh." The book about the brothers came to mind. "I see. Then…what happened to her?"

"Classified information."

"Oh, come on!" Dino protested. "You're telling me so you might as well tell me all of it, right?"

"Wrong. This is all I'm telling you. I want to sleep now so please get out."

Dino grumbled under his breath as he stood up. By the time he got to the door, though, he was smiling again. It must have taken Kyouya a lot to speak up about this, since he'd been so strict about it before. Maybe it was a sign that he was finally accepting Dino as his guardian? Dino's heart swelled at the thought. He felt so proud! "Night. And thanks…for telling me."

"Goodnight."

He waited until the boy was under the covers before he closed the door. He took in a deep breath. So what had he learnt? Kyouya's mom had died when he'd been five and then he'd been taken in by Tsuna's mom, who had died a year later. It seemed the two ladies had known one another from before, what with Kyouya having known Tsuna since the latter's birth. How had they died? Accident? Illness? Or murder? What had happened in the year between the death of Nana Sawada and the kids being brought to Dino? Where were their fathers? Why was Dino's father involved in this? Did it have something to do with the mafia? He would bet it did, otherwise it would make no sense for the Cavallone Family to be involved like this. Ah, this was frustrating! Why couldn't he just be told?

He didn't want to give up but maybe these kids didn't want his help or his comfort. As frustrating as it was, it wasn't necessary for him to know. If he kept prodding, would he aggravate the wounds of the past? And he could guess they had some pretty deep wounds. The nightmares Tsuna had from time to time, his jumpy nature, the near-crying face from earlier all proved that. These children had been sent to him to be taken care of. He didn't need to be snooping around trying to find out their stories. He just had to do what he was expected to do.

Still, why him? Why had he been the one chosen to take care of them? His father had numerous contacts; he could tell anybody to do him a favour. Why his own son? Dino hadn't exactly been sitting around with nothing to do. If it really did have something to do with the mafia, then wouldn't it be better for these kids to have been under the custody of somebody who was involved in that world?

_It's not necessary to think about it._ He rubbed his eyes. He was just giving himself a headache. All he had to do was get on with his job.

He went to check in on Tsuna. All was quiet, and then Tsuna murmured in his sleep and turned over. Dino smiled a sad sort of smile.

How badly had the childhoods of these kids been trampled on? It was no wonder Tsuna was a cry-baby. Dino was starting to see the child in a new light, and Kyouya too. Kyouya was really strong, and his heart was bigger than he made out. He cared for Tsuna very much. A job, he'd said. Dino wanted to know what he'd meant, but he decided he wouldn't press for more information again, at least not until someone decided to tell him straight up what the hell was going on. No more prodding. _From now on, we live for the future,_ he thought as he closed the door.

* * *

Tsuna's birthday passed in peace…or something like that. Dino had a cake ready so the party could get started as soon as possible. He set up food he'd brought from the supermarket earlier – of the instant kind, like pizzas and fizzy drink. Oh, and ice cream. Hey, he was a busy guy.

The cake was the most impressive thing; it was huge. It had been customized and baby blue icing read "Happy Birthday, Tsuna!" across white cream. The child stared at it with an awed gaze. "This is…for me?" he mumbled. Dino chuckled. "Sure is. C'mon, blow out the candles. Don't forget your wish."

Tsuna smiled and, taking in as deep a breath as his little lungs would allow, he blew on the candles. Then he took in another breath and blew again. And again. And again. Those damned candles wouldn't go out! He was red in the face now, and blowing furiously on the little dancing flames. Dino was trying to stifle his laughter. In the chair opposite, Kyouya watched on with a disinterested gaze , his arms folded at the table's edge.

Tsuna stopped and bent over, taking in deep breaths. "Wh-what kind of candles are these?"

Dino grinned. "Want me to help you?" Tsuna nodded miserably. Dino blew out the candles with ease. "All right! Happy birthday, Tsuna!" He clapped, looking over at the other child to see if Kyouya would participate. Kyouya was as blank as ever. Tsuna grinned. "Can I eat some cake now?"

"Sure thing." Dino helped the boy cut the cake. The first – and biggest – slice went to Kyouya. He tucked in with the most enthusiasm he'd shown all day – by stabbing the cake with a fork and stuffing the whole thing into his mouth. Dino watched him with awe. "A-are you all right?" he stammered. Kyouya held out the empty plate. He chewed awhile and then swallowed. "I want more."

Tsuna and Dino exchanged a glance. Both shrugged and cut another slice, just as big as the first. At this rate, the cake Dino had expected might last a couple days would be gone by tonight. He didn't know if he was happy about that; he'd wanted to have some more, when he was alone after the children went to bed. Those midnight snacks of his were always dull. A cake was nice.

It did taste as nice as it looked, Dino found when he tried a slice of his own. Yup, it would make a good midnight snack. Aah, he couldn't wait to be alone now. He had homework…how depressing. But! For today, he would be cheerful!

He got up to clear the plates away when he was sure Kyouya didn't want more cake. "You guys want some hot chocolate?" he asked as he went to drop the load in the sink.

"I want it brought to my room." Kyouya said, pushing back his chair as he stood.

"This isn't a hotel. If you want it, you wait for it. And have it down here; I don't want you making a mess upstairs."

"I won't make a mess; I'm not an herbivore." Here, Kyouya glanced down at Tsuna. Tsuna tried to summon up the courage to look indignant but instead seemed to deflate and flopped to the tabletop.

"I know that, but I still want you to have it here." Dino said. "Just a little more time spent together for Tsuna's birthday, right?"

For a second, it seemed like Kyouya would rebel. Tsuna looked up at the older boy with big, innocent eyes. It was his birthday! Couldn't Kyou-Nii be a little nicer today?

Kyouya's will wavered and he sat back down. Dino gaped. That was incredible! Tsuna's Cute Face of Doom even worked on Kyouya? That face was potent! It would be a force that ruled over the hearts of the people one day! It was so powerful it would allow Tsuna to become a person worthy of great admiration and respect…!

Tsuna got up and tripped over his own foot. Dino's praise stopped halfway. _Nope. Never mind._ He turned and got on with making the hot chocolate.

After the drinks, Kyouya left to go to his room. Tsuna went to the living room to play with the new toys Dino had bought for him (labelled as being from both Dino and Kyouya). Dino cleaned up the kitchen until it looked as if it had been fitted in brand new. When he was done, he stood back to admire his handy work. Up until he'd bought this house, he'd never thought he'd be good at housekeeping. Turned out, he wasn't so bad after all. He was an impressive person.

Tsuna tottered in, interrupting his guardian's moment of self-appreciation. He walked up to Dino. "Dino-Nii?"

Dino smiled. "What's up, Tsuna?"

Tsuna held his arms out. Dino clicked his tongue. "You're six years old and you still want to be picked up? You baby." He picked the child up anyway. Tsuna made a sad face. The man chuckled. "It was a joke. So? What's up?"

Tsuna wrapped his little arms around his guardian's neck and rested his head on Dino's shoulder. "Thank you, Dino-Nii." he mumbled, sounding a little embarrassed.

Dino grinned. This kid was too cute! He patted the back of Tsuna's head once and let him down. "You wanna go play?"

"Okay!" Tsuna toddled out of the kitchen. Dino followed behind. He stopped when he saw Kyouya hopping down the last stair. He held a folded up bag in his hand. "What's that?" Dino asked.

Kyouya went into the living room and up to Tsuna. "Here." he said. "A birthday present."

Dino felt faint and had to hold onto the wall. A present? An honest-to-god present? This was unreal! Who'd have guessed Kyouya cared so much?

Tsuna looked similarly shocked. "Wh-what's this?"

Kyouya's sudden smirk made any good thoughts Dino and Tsuna were having at that moment fade away without a trace. With trepidation, Tsuna opened up the bag and, with a cautious glance at Kyouya, he peered inside. Then he looked at Kyouya again, and then at the item in the bag, and then back up at Kyouya. "I'm not wearing this!"

Curious, Dino went to have a look. He clamped a hand over his mouth when he saw what it was, as laughter threatened to rise up his throat. "Th-that…that is so cute!" he exclaimed. "Tsuna, wear it! I swear, you'll look really cute!" He couldn't hold back a sudden snort and then burst out laughing.

"No!" Tsuna screamed. "I don't want to!"

"C'mon! Please?"

"No!"

"You were saying thank you earlier, right? Think of this as payment."

"You're mean, Dino-Nii!"

"Come on, please?"

"But I don't want to!"

Five minutes later, Tsuna stood before his two brothers dressed in an adorable baby pink and white frock with a floral motif. It came complete with a pair of hair clips with little pink bows on them, which Tsuna also wore. Kyouya had turned away, a hand clamped over his mouth because he didn't want anybody to see his smirk. Dino was a little less reserved and openly laughed as he whizzed around with a camera, taking pictures from every angle. "Tsuna, you are so cute!" he hollered. "Man, if only you'd been a girl; I would have had a little sister!" And then he started laughing again.

Tsuna's lower lip trembled and he clutched at the skirt of the dress in two tight fists. "I hate you both!" he cried, and fled from the room, tears flowing out of his eyes as he did.

Dino stopped laughing. Kyouya stopped smirking. Both exchanged a brief, blank gaze before they scrambled out the door…or, tried to. "Ow! Kyouya, what're you doing?" Dino said, falling over as Kyouya pushed him out of the way in his hurry to follow Tsuna.

"Tough luck." Kyouya said, thundering up the stairs just seconds after Tsuna. Dino jumped to his feet and raced after them. They both got to the landing just as Tsuna's door closed with a loud crash. There was the sound of a bolt hitting home from the other side.

Dino had walked upstairs one midnight, a few days ago, to find that Kyouya had been in Tsuna's room, standing over the child with something in his hand.

"_What're you doing?" Dino asked. _

_In the dull glow of the faraway streetlamp, Kyouya turned. The object in his hand briefly caught the light from the window. "I thought the herbivore might look less of an herbivore if I cut all his hair off." he said nonchalantly. _

"_No you don't!" Dino ushered the black-haired boy out of the room. "Don't come into Tsuna's room when he's asleep. I really don't trust you."_

So it had happened that a lock had been installed in Tsuna's bedroom. He didn't use it very often, though, because the few times he had, he'd closed himself in and he'd not been able to get the lock open very quickly. By the time he'd managed to get it open, he'd been bawling like the baby that he was.

"Tsuna, open up!" Dino called, knocking on the door. "Come on, we're sorry!"

"Herbivore, open up right now." Kyouya said. "Or I'll kick the door down."

"No you don't!" Dino yelled. "Do you know how troublesome it would be to get a new door fitted in with you terrors around?"

Kyouya looked up at him blankly. He sighed and went back to knocking on Tsuna's door. "Never mind that. Tsuna, open up, please? We're really sorry. Hey, Kyouya, say you're sorry. You're the one who brought him the dress."

"Why should I apologise?" Kyouya harrumphed. "You're the one who forced him into it. Pervert. I'll report you to the authorities."

"Say what? I did not force him into it!"

"You're not denying that you're a pervert? Interesting…"

"Shaddap! I'm not a pervert! I just thought he'd look cute! And he does! And I've always wanted a little sister, is that so bad?"

"You're a fetishist."

"Hello, you're the one who bought the damn thing? Damn, you're annoying. Tsuna, open up!" Dino was banging on the door now.

A cry finally came from within. "Go away! You're both mean! I hate you!"

Dino was heartbroken. "Come on, Tsuna! Don't say that to your own brothers! We love you very much. Right, Kyouya?"

Kyouya stuck his index finger into his mouth as far as it would go. "Oi, don't do that!" Dino snapped, slapping the boy's hand away. "You're gonna make yourself sick!"

"That was the idea." Kyouya shrugged. He turned and knocked on the door. "Herbivore, if you don't open this door, I'm going to spread rumours at school that you play with dolls and dollhouses."

"I do not!" Tsuna yelled out.

"I'm more…convincing than you are." Kyouya smirked. "Your school life will be ruined forever."

"Hey, what kind of a threat it that?" Dino rolled his eyes. "Don't say things like that. He'll really believe you."

"You make it seem like I'm lying." Kyouya said. "I'm not."

Dino didn't doubt that for a second. _Scary child_, he thought. "All right, all right, no involving school life and reputation in this, okay? Let's be civil and…TSUNA OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

Kyouya raised an eyebrow. "Yes. _Very_ civil of you."

"Shaddap." Dino groaned and sank to the floor. There was no opening the door. Tsuna really hated him! He couldn't be hated by his adorable little brother! This was the worst! How could Tsuna even be capable of hate?

Dino looked up at Kyouya. Kyouya! It was Kyouya's fault! Kyouya's bad influence was rubbing off on the smaller boy! That had to be it! He frowned at the child. "You're a detestable little boy."

"If you say things to harm my self-confidence, I'll call social services on you." Kyouya said, not looking in the least hurt.

Dino looked ashamed. "Sorry. So, while we're waiting out here, you want to tell me why you've not reported me yet, if you dislike being here so much?"

Kyouya sat down at the other side of the doorframe. "I never said I dislike being here."

Dino was surprised. "So, you don't really mind me all that much then?"

Kyouya gave an awkward shrug. "Better than getting stuck with an old couple…or something." He snuck a sideways glance at Dino's face. "Only a tiny bit, though."

Dino snorted. "Great. And here I was beginning to think you actually had human emotions. God forbid." He smiled and stood up. "Well, whatever. Just as long as we all get along. Hey, Tsuna, open the door. This has gone on long enough. You need to start preparing for bed now."

The lock on the other side clicked. There was a grunt as Tsuna tried to shove the bolt back. "Ow! Stupid lock!"

"Hold on a second." Kyouya said. "Stand back, herbivore." Without waiting, he kicked the door open.

"Wah!" Tsuna only barely moved out of the way in time to avoid the swinging door. He'd gotten changed out of the frock and was in his jeans and t-shirt again. The hairclips were gone too. Dino sulked. "What'd you take the stuff off for?"

Tsuna harrumphed and turned away. "Dino-Nii and Kyou-Nii are feshisisisitisis."

Dino blinked. "What's a feshi…feshisisi…whatever?"

Kyouya kicked Tsuna in the head. "Before you try insulting people, learn to get the word right. Stupid herbivore."

Tsuna started sobbing.

* * *

Aw, what a good note to end the chapter on...poor Tsuna. Btw, does this actually make anyone laugh or is my idea of what's funny just too absurd? Sorry for all grammar and/or spelling mistakes; I've made a few corrections on the narrative since I first wrote it so there might still be bits and pieces that need mending which I haven't spotted yet.

Hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading.


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